Who is Roki Sasaki?
I have been following the NPB for a while now and there have been two pitcher’s names who have kept popping up, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. Once I started digging into to their baseball careers in Japan, I was hooked. I have been mentioning their names for months and saying their ready for the Major Leagues in the United States.
So, who is Roki Sasaki aka “The monster of the Reiwa ERA”?
In his senior year of high school, he tied Shohei Otani’s Japanese high school record with at fastball that hit 99.4 mph. There is talk that he hit 101.2 for a scout.
Roki did not appear in a game for the 2020 season, then in 2021 he went 3-2 with a 2.27 era in 11 games, 68 strike outs in 63 1/3 innings pitched. Sasaki got 2 votes for rookie of the year and finished fifth.
In his first game in 2022 his fastball reached 101.9 mph and in April of that same year he struck out 13 batters in a row shattering the old NPB of 9 that was set in 1957 and finished the game with 19 strike outs.
Sasaki threw a perfect game as the youngest NPB player ever to do so against the Orix Buffaloes, a game that saw him get the number 3-4-5 hitters to strike out every at bat.
Sasaki’s performance in the 2023 WBC received international media attention. In his start against Mexico, his average four-seam fastball velocity was 100.5 miles per hour and topped out at 101.9 miles per hour. His split-finger fastball averaged 91.2 miles per hour and generated 31.4 inches of vertical break. Three Major League Baseball executives compared Sasaki’s abilities at age 21 to those of Stephen Strasburg, who was selected first overall in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft and was considered one of the most anticipated prospects in the league’s history.
Roki Sasaki has a three-quarter delivery, and his fastball tops out at a staggering 102.5 mph. In his pitching bag of tricks, Sasaki has a four-seam fastball, split-finger fastball, forkball, curveball, and slider. His forkball is the best off-speed pitch in his arsenal.
Roki Sasaki stats for his first 3 season in NPB.
W/L 19-10 with a 0.655 / ERA 2.00 / 46 games pitched / 2 complete games / 1 shutout / 283.2 innings pitched / 376 strike outs / whip of 0.839
There is a high probability Roki Sasaki may be posted next year and pass on his scheduled posting time in 2026. Traditionally stars in the NPB wait until they reach the age of 25 years old. Shohei Ohtani, newly acquired Dodger and former NPB star had a clause in his contract that he can request to be posted before the age of 25. It is unclear and contradictory stories that Roki Sasaki has the same clause in his contract that Ohtani had.
For Dodger Daily, I’m Mike Salas
