The Dodgers are getting the most out of Shohei Ohtani both on the field and in the front office.
Roki Sasaki, the latest Japanese pitching phenom to emerge and cross over into Major League Baseball, inked a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers last month, ending a sweepstakes for the 23-year-old pitcher that lasted for several weeks of the offseason.
Dodgers GM Andrew Friedman, in his recent interview with Foul Territory, explained how the Dodgers were able to persuade Sasaki to join them in Los Angeles, including mention of a particular roster advantage the team has with Shohei Ohtani.
Friedman noted that there is a limit on how many pitchers (13, to be exact) can be on a team’s active 26-man roster.
With Ohtani’s unique designation as a two-way player, however, the Dodgers do not have to claim him as one of their 13 pitchers.
This allows Los Angeles to still have their five starting pitchers – with one of them being Ohtani – as well as a cast of eight relief pitchers in their bullpen.
Friedman pointed out that because they can carry one more relief pitcher than most teams do, “no team was better equipped to bring him [Sasaki] along in the Major Leagues [than the Dodgers.]”
It does make sense that Sasaki would appreciate the Dodgers’ pitching flexibility.
After all, the greatest ability for baseball players – and players of all sports, for that matter – is availability, and having an extra arm at the big-league level will be incredibly beneficial during the long grind of the season.
Having one more guy on the pitching staff to help stretch the workload of nine innings day after day could have an invaluable impact on keeping pitchers healthy.
With their addition of Sasaki, the Dodgers, coming off their 2024 World Series Championship win – their second title in five seasons – are entering the 2025 season with a very attractive starting rotation.
Los Angeles’ rotation is highlighted by a trio of Japanese stars: the aforementioned Sasaki and Ohtani, as well as Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Complimenting that talented trio are Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. Tony Gonsolin remains a formidable starting option as well.
