Dodgers' Roki Sasaki: Expected to begin year in rotation

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Wednesday that the Dodgers plan to use Sasaki in their major-league rotation from the beginning of the season, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Sasaki officially signed a minor-league contract with Los Angeles on Wednesday, but there are seemingly no plans to ease him into his first year with the Dodgers. However, the 23-year-old righty never pitched more than 129.1 innings in a year over his four seasons in Japan, so the Dodgers may look for other ways -- such as a six-man rotation -- to limit his rookie-season workload.