Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki was pulled after just 3⅓ innings against the Braves due to a finger blister, and has now been placed on the injured list. On 5channel, comments calling him “too much of a Spelunker” (a nod to the fragile video-game character, used here to mean injury-prone) stood out, along with posts explaining that he can’t use super glue on the blister and has to make do with medical tape instead. With attention on whether he could hold down his rotation spot, reactions poured in comparing this setback to last year’s.
Roki Sasaki of the Los Angeles Dodgers started on the road against the Atlanta Braves on August 26 (local time), a game the Dodgers lost 6-5. He allowed 4 runs in 3⅓ innings and missed out on his 6th win of the season (5th loss).
Sasaki gave up a go-ahead solo home run to the Braves’ No. 3 hitter Matt Olson in the first inning, but held them scoreless in the second and third. Then, with the score 3-1, trouble hit in the fourth.
Sasaki walked leadoff batter Ozzie Albies, who then stole second. A single by No. 7 hitter Mike Yastrzemski put runners on first and third with none out, and a sacrifice fly from Austin Riley brought in a run.
Well, I'd say he's earned a passing grade this year — for the salary he's on.
5AnonymousAug 28, 2026 01:57
In this season's soccer-vs-baseball injury-prone showdown, looks like Tomiyasu's winning.
6AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:00
My only image of Sasaki is leaving runners on base right before getting pulled.
20AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:22
He's such a Spelunker (´・ω・`) (i.e., absurdly injury-prone, like the old video-game character)
23AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:24
This isn't the first time — he didn't make it through a full season last year either.
27AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:30
Re: #23
That's obviously not what it means. For what it's worth, this is only his second pro season and he hasn't had an injury-related absence before now — he just started out in the minors.
72AnonymousAug 28, 2026 04:43
Re: #23
There sure are more and more people who can't read Japanese properly these days.
25AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:27
Even with so-so numbers, I figured he'd grow if he could just hold down a rotation spot for a full year. Guess he ran away again in the end.
33AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:35
Manager: "Roki, off to the unemployment office you go~" (a joke referencing Japan's public job center, "Hello Work")
37AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:38
It's just a finger blister, he'll be back in no time.
41AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:49
Ohtani starts, Sasaki relieves — that's the postseason plan. The real season for the Dodgers is the playoffs anyway. As a regular-season starter Sasaki's basically unusable, Sugano-level, but as a long reliever in short-series ball he's excellent and racks up strikeouts. But if he can't build a game as a starter, can't eat innings, can't hold a rotation spot, and has a bad ERA, then he's no different from Sugano.
44AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:55
Most of the Dodgers' recent losses have come down to errors and self-inflicted mistakes.
46AnonymousAug 28, 2026 02:59
Considering what they paid to get him, hasn't he actually done pretty well so far?
47AnonymousAug 28, 2026 03:00
Well, if it's a blister, can't be helped. The roster's clearly aging this year, wins keep slipping away, and a championship looks unlikely anyway, so he might as well take his time resting.
48AnonymousAug 28, 2026 03:00
If an artificial elbow ligament is fine, just wrap some silicone around the fingertip.
50AnonymousAug 28, 2026 03:07
This was going around in yesterday's live-commentary thread.
51AnonymousAug 28, 2026 03:09
The Dodgers should be winning it all this year, but the roster feels like it's full of Spelunkers (injury-prone guys).
53AnonymousAug 28, 2026 03:20
He doesn't have the track record in Japan that Yamamoto does, so he's got nothing to fall back on.
57AnonymousAug 28, 2026 03:43
Last year he only got called up to the majors right at the very end — even though he hadn't done much in Oklahoma either — and they scraped by using him as a reliever. This year is the real test of whether he can actually start. He's inconsistent, and my impression is he's given up too many runs overall. From Roberts's perspective, isn't the whole "test him as a starter" plan looking shaky?
59AnonymousAug 28, 2026 03:55
And he was starting to look better than the other Japanese pitchers, too.
60AnonymousAug 28, 2026 03:57
He'll just come back for the postseason and be a hero again, no worries, no worries.
70AnonymousAug 28, 2026 04:39
Re: #60
But last year even Yamamoto pitching on zero days' rest was better than him…
62AnonymousAug 28, 2026 04:02
He's constantly gripping that splitter of his — taking proper care of it is what a pro's supposed to do.
78AnonymousAug 28, 2026 05:00
Can't he just manage it by dabbing on some super glue?
80AnonymousAug 28, 2026 05:05
Re: #78
That counts as using a sticky substance, so it's banned. Roberts said he's fine to practice normally if he wraps it in medical tape, but of course that's banned in games too.
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