This Has MAJOR Implications For the Dodgers... | LA Dodgers News

This has absolutely major implications for the Dodgers. I get into exactly what that is in this edition of Dodgers Digest. Hey, this is Mike Nelson. Make sure to subscribe to the channel. I want to thank the 42% of you, the ones who are watching these videos who've already hit the sub button, but 57% of you have not yet subscribed to the best Dodger channel on YouTube. Myself, Brad J, we're bringing you everyday Dodger content. You're not going to find it like this anywhere else on YouTube. So make sure to hit that subscribe button. Let's get, of course, right into the story. We got some pretty bad news from Dave Roberts this afternoon before the first game of this three-game set against the Athletics, which will be kicking off tonight at Dodger Stadium at 7 p.m. Pacific time. Roki Sasaki. Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki has arm soreness. This is obviously really bad news for the Dodgers because they already have two pitchers who are currently on the I.L. in Blake Snell and Tyler Glass now. And now we could potentially add a third star pitcher going to the I.L. I'm not saying there's only two pitchers on the I.L. I'm just saying this would be the third guy from the rotation this season to go on the I.L. because we have a bunch of guys, as we know, from the bullpen. On the injured list and now Roki Sasaki is dealing with arm soreness. Dave Roberts told this to reporters this afternoon on Tuesday that he has now reported Roki Sasaki has reported arm soreness. The team is trying to figure out whether that's going to require an injured list stint. Sasaki, of course, his fastball has been down from the 100 miles an hour that he was throwing out in Japan. It's been down to 95, 96, sometimes 94. And yeah, it's definitely frustrating as a Dodger fan to hear this kind of news. What does everybody think out there? I mean, Yoshinobu Yamamoto had this issue last year. You know, of course, not the same issue, had a shoulder issue, right, that happened in June. But I mean, injuries, this is a few weeks before June, it's May 13th right now. So injuries once again plaguing a pitcher that comes over from Japan in his first full season in North America, pitching for the Dodgers. And it's frustrating and it's bad news because the Dodgers are already decimated as it is when it comes to starting pitching. And we know if Sasaki does have to go on the I.L., they're going to have to go with somebody from AAA to fill in the void. I mean, that's just unfortunately how it goes here for the Dodgers, right? I mean, the Dodgers are already just too backed up with injuries. I mean, this would be another guy. I mean, this really hurts the Dodgers, in my opinion, because the bullpen has been used up already too much this season. It's been, you know, even Dave Roberts has talked about how it's not sustainable. Me, myself, and Brad were talking about this on Monday morning on our livestream. How the Dodgers really have used up so many innings from the bullpen so far that it's definitely concerning. I'm learning. It's only, man, I mean, it's only the season. I know it's felt like a long time. You know, the season's been technically going on for a couple months, right? The Dodgers started their season in mid-March out in Japan, playing against the Cubs, right? That two-game set, which seems so long ago, two months ago. Sasaki pitched in the second game, had some struggles, as we know. But there hasn't been really, it's still very early in the season. It's still very early in the season. You know, we're not even close to being halfway done. And the Dodgers are already banged up. And that's why the divisional race is so close. Because the Dodgers are in first place right now. They're clearly the best team in baseball, right? I mean, let's be honest. The Dodgers are the best team in baseball. They have all the tools to go back-to-back this year. There's just one, there's a couple big weaknesses, but as we know, left field has been a weakness so far with Conforto really struggling, and that's going to be a big question mark, what's going to happen there. Center field was a question mark, but Baez has definitely turned it around. But the starting pitching again. The starting pitching was a disaster last year for the Dodgers, right? It was a complete disaster. I mean, they had to go with Walker Buehler, who was obviously not himself throughout the late in the regular season. He was dealing with coming off injury. He was a disaster in the end of the regular season. Somehow, he turned it around miraculously in the playoffs, which I still am shocked by because Buehler was not good at all down the stretch. And then, you know, you had Jack Flaherty, another guy they had to go with, and Yoshinori Yamamoto, that was it. So, really, they only had two reliable guys in Flaherty and Yamamoto, and the Dodgers somehow still won the World Series, you know, doing the bullpen games and all that. But I just don't see how this year they could do that again. And this injury is another, you know, of course, it has not been confirmed that Sasaki will go on the injured list yet. But this is a big blow if he does. I mean, if he has to go on the injured list for an extended period of time, this is really going to affect the Dodgers in these next few weeks, right? It will. Because they're already up against it with Glasnow and Snell down. And they couldn't really afford another injury at this time, right? I really don't think they could afford that. I mean, they got a big series. Right now, this week's going to be easy. You got the A's and Angels. But then next week, I mean, you got to go to New York to play the Mets. They got to go to Cleveland to play the Guardians, which is not easy. They got to come back home and play the Yankees, right? The end of the month, the three-game set, the World Series 2024 rematch at Dodger Stadium. And the way it's going, I mean, the Dodgers really don't have, you know, the pitching to really feel confident right now. I mean, think about it. Right now you got Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin are your three guys right now, really, with the other three on the shelf, right? You know, Sasaki potentially on the shelf, Glass now and Snell on the shelf. So, I mean, how do you feel about the Dodgers pitching right now if Sasaki goes down? Sasaki hasn't been himself, especially the last start. He didn't even get a strikeout. Something was off. We talked about it on Monday. We didn't have the details, but we knew we were saying, is he really 100%? And it's been confirmed he's not 100%. So this is obviously, you know, shocking to say the least, but was also shocking about today in baseball is we got some massive. Baseball news. Baseball is going to be talked about all around the world tonight on, you know, in 11 o'clock news, whatever you want to call it. Different newsrooms around the world in all the languages. They're going to be talking about baseball tonight. Because of an announcement that Major League Baseball made. And that's with Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson getting reinstated by Major League Baseball in a historic decision. Of course, both of these players are no longer with us posthumously. As we know, Pete Rose passed away late last year. And of course, Shoeless Joe Jackson, part of the Black Sox scandal. One of the best hitters of all time. I mean, Pete Rose. Also, maybe the best hitter of all time. What does everybody think out there with these two players getting reinstated? Do you agree with them going to the Hall of Fame? What's my connection to the Dodgers with this? Well, if we're going to start putting Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe in the Hall of Fame, I think it calls for a very famous Dodger to go in the Hall of Fame too. And that's Manny Ramirez. I think Manny, who was one of my favorite players growing up, Especially when he came to the Dodgers. Manny Wood, it was amazing that year what he did. I mean, I think if we're going to start putting Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson in the Hall of Fame, I think we're going to have to start putting some of these steroid guys too. I don't know what everybody thinks out there. But I think this could be the beginning of something. letting Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe, among other players, were also on the list that were reinstated today. But obviously those are the two most prominent ones. So definitely big news. I 100% agree with Rob Manford here. Although I don't like the way it was managed. I think Pete Rose should have been in the Hall of Fame years ago. He should have been reinstated years and years ago. I think the penalty did not fit the crime. It was too many years, and I think he was too good to not be a part of the Hall of Fame. As always, make sure to subscribe, and let's go Dodgers. Woo!