Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced last week that Japanese phenom Rōki Sasaki is likely to be one of the starting pitchers of the MLB Tokyo Series exhibition games against the Chicago Cubs. At spring training practice, Sasaki garnered compliments from Dodgers catchers and pitchers alike. Sasaki drew a crowd at his first live batting practice yesterday afternoon, everyone seemingly excited to see what the 23 year old has in store for the team. Who exactly is the Dodgers’ newest international pitcher whose signing made waves throughout the baseball world?
Although Sasaki has four impressive seasons of experience in Japan, he is considered a rookie in the United States. Since Sasaki is under 25, he is classified as an amateur international free agent, meaning he would be paid a rookie salary through 2025 in addition to the $6.5 million signing bonus from the club. Around the same time Sasaki was announced to be joining the Dodgers, Baseball America placed him on top of their coveted Top 100 Prospects for 2025. The pitcher also tops the MLB Top 100 Baseball Prospects, Top International Prospects and Top 10 RHP Prospects lists.
The baseball world has had its eye on Sasaki even before news broke that he would be entering the international market. Debuting at the age of 19 in 2021, Sasaki’s talent, highlighted by his 100+ mile per hour fastball and standout splitter, earned him the nickname “The Monster of the Reiwa Era.”
Despite a young career, Sasaki is known for a couple of outstanding performances that cemented his position as one to watch. On April 10, 2022, Sasaki pitched a perfect game, collecting 19 strikeouts against the Orix Buffaloes who would eventually go on to win the Nippon Professional Baseball championship. A year later on April 14, 2023, Sasaki would out-pitch now teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, boasting seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts to lead Chiba Lotte to a shutout victory. Sasaki proved that he could perform on an international stage with his two starts for Japan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where he faced multiple MLB players and became a part of a gold-winning Japan team that included stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish.
While Sasaki has still been subject to criticism from scouts and executives, especially given the close watch he has been under, many experts in the sport acknowledge that his ceiling is still high and promising. The Dodgers are prepared to help Sasaki grow, with experience in signing international players, the presence of veterans Yamamoto and Ohtani and the promise of a competitive environment after coming off a championship season. It will only be around a month before Sasaki takes center stage at the Tokyo Exhibition series, and everybody will certainly be tuning in to witness the major league debut of the young phenom.
