Dodgers veteran confirms he's giving Roki Sasaki his uniform number

Roki Sasaki wore number 17 for his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines. He wore number 14 for the Japanese team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Now that he's signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which number will Sasaki wear in Major League Baseball?

Miguel Rojas, who wore number 11 for the Dodgers last season, hinted in an Instagram post that he was changing his uniform number in 2025. Sunday, Rojas confirmed via email to The Big Lead that he is indeed giving up his jersey number for Sasaki and switching to number 72 — the number he wore as a rookie with the Dodgers in 2014.

Before you go out and buy a ROJAS 72 uniform (or, more likely, SASAKI 11), Rojas could not confirm that Sasaki has been issued number 11 by the Dodgers. That decision is traditionally left to the team's home clubhouse manager in collaboration with the player, and perhaps others in the Dodgers' front office.

Since Sasaki is limited to signing a minor league contract under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, it's possible he will not get number 11 until he is officially added to the Dodgers' major league roster. Minor league players who take part in their major league team's Spring Training typically wear higher numbers in camp.

Rojas told The Big Lead that he and Sasaki haven't even hammered out the terms of the trade, if Sasaki observes the tradition of offering an older player something in exchange for his jersey number.

For now, call it another example of Rojas trying to be a good teammate.

"I hope giving him the number helped getting him to sign with us," Rojas said via email.

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