Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki was officially posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball on Monday, adding another mega-talent to Major
Roki Sasaki of the Lotte Marines pitches in a baseball game against the Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium in the western Japan city of Hiroshima on June 8, 2024. ==Kyodo NO USE JAPAN League Baseball’s free-agent market this winter.
The young right-hander is one of the most intriguing Japanese prospects to ever make the jump to MLB, perhaps only behind Shohei Ohtani and on the same level as Yoshinobu Yamamoto.across four NPB seasons, posting a 2.10 ERA, 505 strikeouts, and a 0.894 WHIP. He possesses a fastball that averages between 97 and 99 mph but maxed out at 102.5 mph during the 2023 World Baseball Classic with Team Japan.
The difference between Sasaki and Yamamoto is that Sasaki’s first MLB contract will be a minuscule fraction of the 12-year, $325 million Yamamoto signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason.Because Sasaki is 23, he can only sign a minor-league deal with the team he signs for, as must any Japanese product under the age of 25 looking to make the jump to North America.
Multiple reports have already indicated that he will join Ohtani and Yamamoto with the Dodgers, thus adding another ace-worthy arm in a rotation that will already feature the other two Japanese stars and the newly-signed Blake Snell, who is a two-time Cy Young Award winner.
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