Padres' Potential Free-Agent Target Leaves Game After Being Struck By Batted Ball

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 16, 2024

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

A couple of weeks after Roki Sasaki returned to the mound after a couple of months on the injured list, the Japanese starting pitcher was forced to exit his start after 1.2 innings with an injury.

With two outs in the second inning, Sasaki took a line drive off the ankle. He left the field and received treatment only to return and throw a few warm-up pitches before realizing that he couldn't go any further.

After the game, Manager Masato Yoshii revealed that the ball hit the Achilles tendon of his pivot foot, and explained, "There is a possibility that he could be seriously injured when he runs, so the trainer decided to take him off the mound."

Yoshii also told reporters after the game that he isn't sure when Sasaki — who's been linked to the Padres in free agent rumors in the past — will pitch again.

"I won't know until I see how he goes," the manager added after the game.

Roki Sasaki was removed from the game in the 2nd inning after taking a comebacker off the ankle

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It was Sasaki's third game back since recovering from two issues. He had been sidelined since June of this year due to right arm discomfort and conditioning.

In his five seasons of playing in Nippon Professional Baseball, Sasaki has yet to finish out the whole season in a six-man rotation without some kind of conditioning issue.

Several scouts from Major League Baseball teams have their eyes on Sasaki, who is expected to leave the NPB for MLB next season.

Sasaki would be following in the footsteps of current Los Angeles Dodgers players Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto who are just a couple of players that began their careers in Japan's NPB before moving to North America to play in Major League Baseball.

The Dodgers are also competing with the San Diego Padres for Sasaki.

Because he is younger than 25, his first MLB contract would be relatively small compared to Yamamoto. He has also not reached six years of service in a foreign major league which means he is subject to MLB’s international amateur signing bonus pools, which sets a hard cap and limits him initially to a minor league contract.

“He is one of the pitchers that Japan is proud of,” Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama said through a translator at the World Baseball Classic in 2023. “This year and then next year is going to be a very critical year for him.”

"Next year" is now, and Sasaki is continuing to turn heads despite a couple of injuries. He is 6-3 with an earned run average of 2.20. He has struck out 82 batters and only walked 20 in 69.2 innings of work.