Matt Sauer struck out four in two scoreless innings of relief on Friday night against the Mariners in Peoria, and went back out for the ninth inning with a six-run lead and a three-inning save on the table.
The Dodgers non-roster right-hander did not get another out, allowing a single, home run, walk, and double to his four batters faced. That brought manager Dave Roberts to the mound with the hook, but also a smiling conversation. This wasn’t quite like the full-on hug of Yohan Ramírez last year, but the news was encouraging nonetheless.
Friday we chronicled the dwindling number of actually available pitchers for the Dodgers in the early going, especially for the Tokyo Series, and how it created an opportunity for a non-roster invitee to claim a spot. Sauer seized the chance.
Roberts said after Friiday’s game that he told Sauer he would be going with the team on the trip to Japan, per the beat reporters on site in Arizona.
“He’s had a good spring, and he adds some length for our club,” Roberts said, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
Per the collective bargaining agreement, players on the travel roster participating in regular season trips to Asia, Europe, or Australia receive a $70,000 bonus.
All four of those runners Sauer allowed in the ninth inning scored, but that hasn’t, well, soured what has been a positive spring. Signed to a minor league contract in January, Sauer is now one of four non-roster invitee pitchers remaining in big league camp.
He’s pitched 7⅔ innings in four Cactus League appearances, and has lasted at least two innings in each of his last three appearances, with eight strikeouts in total. Sauer’s ninth-inning walk on Friday was his only free pass issued in 35 batters faced this spring.
Sauer was a Rule 5 Draft pick of the Royals in December 2023 and pitched in the majors before he ever got to Triple-A. He allowed 14 runs in 16⅓ innings with more walks than strikeouts before Kansas City sent him back to the Yankees, where he spent the rest of the season in the minors.
Prior to 2024, Sauer was a starter in the minors, but 40 of his 41 appearances between the majors and minors last year came in relief.
The Dodgers still have a few pitchers they can place on the 60-day injured list to make room for 40-man roster additions, including Emmet Sheehan and Brusdar Graterol coming off surgeries. Potentially Clayton Kershaw, too, after foot surgery. Roki Sasaski will be one of those additions, and it looks like Sauer will be another.
Sauer has three option years remaining, giving him a flexibility that veteran NRI pitchers Giovanny Gallegos and Luis García don’t have. The limit of five options per season does not start until after domestic opening day on March 27, so even if Sauer is only active in Tokyo at first, sending him down to the minors before the home opener wouldn’t count against the option limit.
