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By Peter Chawaga
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have endured a slip in the standings as their pitching woes persist.
The team has lost several notable hurlers to the injured list throughout this season, including Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Tanner Scott and Michael Kopech. Most recently, the team's trade deadline reinforcement Brock Stewart went down after just four games with the Dodgers.
The team is remaining optimistic that its pitching staff will be healthy enough come playoff time, with several arms expected back soon. However, one of their biggest pending reinforcements suffered a setback on Thursday.
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"Beginning a rehab assignment for Triple-A Oklahoma City, Sasaki needed 41 pitches to record six outs and failed to retire the two batters that he faced in the third inning," Jared Greenspan reported for MLB.com. "The Dodgers had originally hoped Sasaki could complete three innings."
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After joining the Dodgers as a minted star from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, Sasaki struggled with his fastball velocity and command before being shut down with a shoulder problem. In his latest rehab start, he failed to strike anyone out and saw that velocity fall once again.
The Dodgers won't bring back Sasaki until he can log a longer start in the minors. But after this latest outing, he offered two words on whether he'd like to hurry back to the big-league club.
"Of course," Sasaki replied, per a translation from Dodgers Beat.
"As a baseball player, if I'm not pitching in games and contributing, it feels like I'm not doing my job," Sasaki added, according to the translation. "But I can't just rush back — I need to focus on what I have to do right now. I have both the desire to return quickly and the understanding that I need to prepare properly before I do."
Though Sasaki is eager to contribute to the Dodgers, it seems pretty clear that he isn't ready to do so after his latest turn on the mound. And at this point, it's far from certain that he'll be able to make it back to the majors at any point this season.
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