Sasaki to the IL With a Blister — and Suddenly the Dodgers' Rotation Math Gets Interesting
A middle-finger blister sends Roki Sasaki to the 15-day injured list at the worst possible stretch of the calendar. Here's what it changes down the stretch.
August 27, 2026 at 7:36 AM EDT
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The Dodgers are placing right-hander Roki Sasaki on the 15-day injured list after he exited Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Braves with a blister on his middle finger. Sasaki said the blister came on suddenly in the fourth inning: "My skin just ripped off, and then after that, it started getting worse." He was pulled after 3.1 innings, having allowed four runs on six hits and two walks.
A blister sounds minor, and often is — but for a pitcher whose entire game is built on grip and feel, it is exactly the kind of nagging issue that can linger or recur. The Dodgers had not announced a return timeline as of the placement.
Why the timing stings
Losing a rotation arm in late August, with the postseason picture hardening, is the least convenient time to have to reshuffle. It puts more innings on the rest of the staff at the exact point in the season when depth stops being a luxury and starts being the whole thing.
The market angle
Starting-pitcher availability is one of the sharpest, fastest-moving inputs in baseball betting. Sasaki's absence changes the Dodgers' projected starter in any game he would have taken — which moves that game's line, the total, and any first-five-innings market — and, at the margin, nudges the rotation-dependent futures. None of it is disaster-level for a team this deep, but it is the kind of news that reprices individual games before it reprices the season. Watch who slots into his turns; that is where the number actually moves.