Can Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Sasaki (22) win a major league contract?
Sasaki started the match against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp held at Jojo Marine Stadium in Chiba Prefecture, Japan on the 11th and recorded 5 hits, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk and 2 runs in 7 innings. In the 5th inning leading 4-0, with 2 outs and bases loaded, Ryutaro Hatsuki hit 2 RBIs just in time.안전놀이터
This was Sasaki’s only goal on the day. However, there is another reason why this at-bat is notable. Sasaki continued to throw a fast ball at around 160 km/h to Hatsuki in the bases loaded crisis, and the ball that induced the fourth ball hit 165 km.
It is Sasaki’s second 165 km this season and the best speed tie in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In 2016, Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels), who was a member of the Nippon Ham Fighters, recorded 165 km for the first time. Sasaki threw 109 pitches that day and won his 5th win of the season. The season record is 8 games, 5 wins, 1 loss, and an average ERA of 1.41.
Sasaki, who joined Chiba Lotte in 2020 but has been in the first team since 2021, the second year, is his first full-time season this year. Until now, Sasaki had been thoroughly managed, but on this day, he passed 100, suggesting that his training was over. However, due to a finger blister injury last month, he took a break from pitching for about three weeks.
Although he did not fill the required innings due to rest, his 79 strikeouts (51 innings) is leading the Pacific League. There is a whopping 13 gap from Kona Takahashi (Seibu, 66), who is second in the league. Sasaki gave up only 11 walks, leading the league in strikeouts/walks at 7.18. He also improved his inning digestibility with WHIP (on base per inning) as low as 0.65 and quality starts 7 out of 8 games.
Sasaki already drew a lot of attention by throwing a fastball with Ohtani at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) last March. Now heading into his first full season and the under-25s are classified as international contract prospects and the allocation is low, we don’t know what Sasaki will do, but many major league scouts are already living in or visiting Japan to see him start. .
Former Yokohama DeNA Baystars manager Alex Ramirez, a former major leaguer who recorded 2,000 hits in the NPB, also highly praised Sasaki. On the 11th, former coach Ramirez shared Sasaki’s pitching on social media.
“Sasaki will be the first player to sign a $300 million major league contract at NPB within a few years! Sasaki will probably be rated higher than Shohei Otani in the pitching category,” he admired.
When Ohtani joined the Angels in 2018, he was hit by the international contract limit and only paid $2.315 million in down payment. His first season salary was also $545,000, the lowest salary in the major leagues. Unlike the KBO, NPB can post if the club allows it without completing 7 seasons, but unlike Ohtani, it depends on Sasaki whether he will be treated properly after turning 25 or whether he will challenge the major leagues for at least one year before that.
If Sasaki is over 25 years old and signs a formal contract, he may receive a high ransom, as former manager Ramirez predicted. However, there are also opinions that Sasaki wants to advance to the major leagues as soon as possible because he has to prove durability and endurance, which can be a fatal weakness for fastball pitchers, for several more years.
Former manager Ramirez started playing for the Yakult Swallows in 2001 and served as the center batting line for the Yomiuri Giants from 2008 to 2011. In 2008-2010, he also played with current Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop. After recording 2000 NPB hits for the first time as a foreign hitter in 2013, he is a famous Japanese baseball star who led the team as Yokohama manager from 2016 to 2020.