Roki Sasaki exits Dodgers loss to Braves with blister on finger

Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times on Aug 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ATLANTA — The gathering on the Truist Park mound kept growing. At first, Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki was visited by pitching coach Mark Prior and catcher Hunter Feduccia, with the help of interpreter Will Ireton. Then, Prior summoned head athletic trainer Thomas Albert. Then, they called out manager Dave Roberts, who eventually made the pitching change.

The group had been examining the middle finger on Sasaki’s right hand. And the Dodgers later announced Sasaki had exited their 6-5 loss to the Braves in the fourth inning with a blister on that finger.

That might explain why Sasaki, who was charged with four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings, didn’t look as sharp Wednesday against the Braves as he had been in the rest of his impressive second-half stretch. Sasaki entered the day with a 2.19 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break.

His efficiency Wednesday wavered, and he exited after 66 pitches. After Sasaki gave up a solo home run to Matt Olson in the first inning, the outing began to devolve in the fourth.

Sasaki walked Ozzie Albies to open the inning. Then he surrendered a single to Mike Yastrzemski, a sacrifice fly to Austin Riley and a double to Sean Murphy. Then Prior came out to check on him.

Right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez replaced Sasaki, inheriting two baserunners. Both scored when Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández overran Drake Baldwin’s deep fly ball down the line, for a go-ahead double.

The Dodgers (80-53) never led again. Though they tied the score in the seventh, they squandered a bases-loaded opportunity the next inning. And in the ninth, closer Tanner Scott, the fifth Dodgers reliever to take the mound, surrendered a walk-off single to pinch-hitter Ha-Seong Kim.

Regardless of whether the blister affects Sasaki’s next start, the 24-year-old right-hander is in an interesting position about a month away from the playoffs.

Barring an unexpected extended absence, Sasaki will remain an important part of the Dodgers rotation in the final month of the season. But as things stand in that starting group, there doesn’t appear to be room for him in the postseason rotation.

While the Dodgers have carried a six-man rotation for much of the regular season, it’s down to five since the Dodgers put left-hander Justin Wrobleski on the IL a week and a half ago and later moved lefty Eric Lauer to the bullpen in a multi-inning role. But in the playoffs, they only need four starters.

The next four days will provide a preview, with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Thursday in the series finale against the Braves), left-hander Tarik Skubal (making his Detroit return Friday), lefty Blake Snell (Saturday), and likely some combination of two-way star Shohei Ohtani and/or Tyler Glasnow (Sunday) all lined up.

That fourth and final playoff rotation spot will be the interesting one to follow as the season winds down.

Ohtani is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday in Detroit, Roberts said, after which the Dodgers will finalize his schedule for the rest of the weekend.

“Right now, I don’t think anyone knows how any day looks until he throws that bullpen on Friday,” Roberts said before the game Wednesday.

Ohtani returning to pitching Sunday is still in play, Roberts confirmed. And Glasnow is also lined up for Sunday.

When Ohtani returns to the mound, it will be in a super-opener role, as he continues to build up. And if he and Glasnow piggyback on Sunday, it’ll be a preview of a possible postseason setup.

If Ohtani is able to build up to a full starter’s load — pitching Sunday rather than Tuesday would give him the chance to make up to five starts before the end of the regular season — the Dodgers could have a more difficult decision at the back end of their rotation.

So, with five pitchers already penciled in for four postseason rotation spots, Sasaki is in line to pitch out of the bullpen in the postseason, along with Wrobleski, a 2026 All-Star who is expected to take on a relief role as soon as he returns from the injured list.

Exactly what that will look like for Sasaki is unclear. And because the Dodgers need him in the rotation down the stretch, even late-September games aren’t guaranteed to provide hints.

Last postseason, Sasaki served as the Dodgers’ closer, a role he could again thrive in. But this year, as Edwin Díaz has struggled in the 16 appearances he’s made between IL stints, Scott has stayed healthy, unlike last year, and earned Roberts’ trust in save situations.

Before sorting out all of that, Sasaki has to get through this blister issue.

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