The Los Angeles Dodgers are desperate to get some of their pitchers healthy, with a staggering 14 arms on the injured list. Unfortunately, the latest update on Roki Sasaki isn’t the news they wanted to share.

The Dodgers on May 13 placed Sasaki on the 15-day IL with a shoulder impingement. He’s still working through his rehab process, but it isn’t progressing as quickly as LA hoped. Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior recently shared an underwhelming update with reporters.

“There’s not a lot to report. He’s been throwing, still just light catch and not a lot of work other than light catch right now,” Prior said. “He is pain-free, but hasn’t gotten to the point where he can put enough intensity to push forward in his progression. It’s just a light catch, just exercising in his throw and not necessarily pushing the throw.”

Sasaki being pain-free is a great sign, but the delay in his throwing progression is far from ideal, given the rest of the Dodgers’ pitching struggles. Still, LA shouldn’t rush his rehab — the last thing it needs is for him to fall injured again down the stretch when it needs depth in late-season or playoff games.

Dodgers update on Roki Sasaki’s recovery suggests he’s still far from return

Sasaki, 23. signed with the Dodgers this winter after four standout seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, during which he pitched to a 2.10 ERA with a 0.894 WHIP and 505 strikeouts over 394 2/3 innings. The young righty’s move to MLB hasn’t gone exactly as planned, as he’s clocked a 4.72 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 34 1/3 innings. Sasaki’s outings have been short, and he averages fewer than 4 1/3 innings per start so far.

The Dodgers’ rotation currently comprises Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May, with a few spot starts sprinkled in each cycle. Dave Roberts was forced to hang Matt Sauer out to dry on June 10 against the Padres, and he let up nine runs on 13 hits over 4 2/3 innings. Luckily, Los Angeles expects Shohei Ohtani to return to pitching before the All-Star break, and Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow have begun throwing bullpen sessions. But Sauer’s situation and Ben Casparius joining the starting rotation now make a whole lot more sense with this Sasaki update.

The Dodgers have quite a while to wait for any pitching reinforcements coming their way. Hopefully, the bullpen can hold up until then.