Roki Sasaki ditches Dodgers plan with striking U-turn in prep for 3-peat quest

The initial plan called for Roki Sasaki to pitch an inning or two as an opener.Sasaki had other ideas.“I said I wanted to pitch out of the bullpen,” Sasaki said in Japanese.Because Sasaki will be deployed as a reliever in the playoffs, he figured he should spend the remainder of the regular season becoming reacquainted with the role.So instead of throwing the first and second innings of the Dodgers’ 7-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, Sasaki pitched the fourth.Returning from a month-long stay on the injured list, Sasaki pitched in relief for the first time this season.What was most memorable about his night wasn’t that he struck out two batters or threw six of his 20 pitches faster than 99 mph.Rather, what was most striking was his embrace of his move out of the Dodgers’ rotation.Sasaki was reluctant to make the switch last year, doing so only as a last-ditch effort to salvage an otherwise disastrous rookie season.

The decision made him an October hero, as the team’s lack of options made him the closer almost by default.He returned to the rotation this year and was 5-5 with a 4.56 earned-run average through his first 23 games, all of them starts.His form improved over the course of the season, and he was 2-0 with a 3.05 ERA in seven starts after the All-Star break.

But in the last of those starts, which was on Aug.26 in Atlanta, he developed a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.Starting games was a source of pride for Sasaki.

When he agreed to try pitching in relief last year, he made the Dodgers promise him they would use him as a starter this season.Sasaki didn’t require as much convincing when team officials started talking to him about a role change on the Dodgers’ recent trip to Cincinnati.The Dodgers will use a four-man rotation in the playoffs, and they have four Cy Young Award-caliber pitchers in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tarik Skubal and Tyler Glasnow.Sasaki could do the math.

If he was going to ...