impingement

“It’s for people with shoulder impingement or spinal compression issues. It takes all the compression off your spine and allows you to perform a squat under resistance.”

It had been four months since his debut season took a dismal turn, landing on the injured list with a shoulder impingement following an opening month marred by poor performance and diminished stuff.

How could a newcomer who practically vanished when he went down with a shoulder impingement five months earlier become the team’s most dominant reliever?

Sasaki went to the sideline in early May with a right shoulder impingement and wasn’t reactivated until the final week of the season — as a reliever.

At the start of the season, Sasaki made eight underwhelming starts — with wild command and declining fastball velocity contributing to a 4.72 ERA — before being sidelined by a shoulder impingement.