Japanese pitcher Sasaki Roki of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder problem.



Sasaki started against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Friday. He took the mound after only five days of rest for the first time in his professional career.



Sasaki gave up five runs, including two homers in the first inning, and left the game in the fifth without getting a single strikeout.



Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sasaki reported soreness in his right arm after the game.



He was listed as injured with right shoulder impingement on Tuesday.
This is Sasaki's first time on the injured list in the Major Leagues.



He has been part of the starting rotation despite being in his MLB rookie year.



But his fastball, which clocked a maximum 165 kilometers per hour in Japanese professional baseball, has slowed to an average of around 154 kilometers.



He has also had trouble with control. In his eight games so far, he has one win and one loss, with a 4.72 ERA.



Sasaki has struggled with injury since he played in Japan. During his four years on his club's first team, he never pitched the qualifying number of innings.



Roberts said Sasaki does not have a timetable to return.



He said Sasaki appears to have been feeling discomfort for several weeks but tried to deal with it until he felt his performance was affected, as other starters were already on the injured list.



Roberts said that "to think he was going to go wire-to-wire given his track record and history of innings was probably unrealistic."



He added, "This could be that little bit of reprieve in the middle of the season that we can get him back to being healthy, get him strong and a hundred percent and help us get through the World Series."