Rintaro Sasaki scored the second hit of his amateur debut in the United States last week, the outburst making headlines because the 19-year-old could be Japan’s next great bat export to Major League Baseball.
But let’s not get confused.
Rintaro is a different Sasaki than the one who threw 26 triple-digit fastballs during a lights-out performance for Japan against Mexico in 2022 World Baseball Classic. That was Roki Sasakianother phenomenon seemingly destined for a big MLB payday.
Rōki, 22, is in his fourth season playing professionally in Japan for Chiba Lotte, where he has compiled a 25-12 record with a 1.91 earned run average and 465 strikeouts in 363 innings. The 6-foot-1 right-hander would remain under Chiba Lotte’s control until he accumulated nine years of service. A move to MLB before then would require him to be deployed by the team.
See more information: The Dodgers want a Japanese star. Could they get one who wasn’t named Shohei Ohtani?
Rintaro’s home run for the Trenton Thunder in the hitherto obscure MLB Draft League it is incidental compared to your long-term plans. He will prepare for Stanford next spring, bypassing the posting process that Rōki is navigating.
Rōki made history in April 2022 by striking out 13 consecutive batters en route to tying the Nippon Professional Baseball record of 19 strikeouts in a game. And, oh, by the way, in that game he also became the first pitcher in Japan to throw a perfect game in 28 years, and he threw eight more perfect innings in his next game.
Rintaro made history by hitting 140 home runs in high school, the most ever by a Japanese player. He attended Hanamaki Higashi High, as did the two-way Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays Yusei Kikuchi – and Sasaki’s father, Hiroshi, trained all three.
See more information: Inside Shohei Ohtani’s baseball journey
It all seems that combined, the two Sasakis would form a credible Ohtani clone. Could either of them – or even both – become Dodger?
Rintaro has little chance of becoming an elite prospect because the draft picks are in reverse order of the previous season’s rankings. The Dodgers always seem to pick at the end of every round.
Rōki, however, could sign with the Dodgers if he is deployed. If they still covet you after spending more than $1 billion on Ohtani and Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto It’s conjecture, although Andrew Friedman and other Dodgers executives have been watching him since he was in high school.
Both Sasakis have compelling life stories, distinguished by forging their own paths rather than following the crowd.
See more information: Four Ways Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto Injuries Impact the Dodgers
As a former resident of the city of Rikuzentakata, Rōki represents the recovery of the Tohoku region which was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. When he was 9 years old, the tsunami claimed the lives of his father and a couple of grandparents. His mother moved with him and his two brothers to Ofunato, about 10 miles up the coast, where he attended a small high school, less prestigious than the numerous schools that recruited him.
At the time, he said he wanted to continue playing with the teammates who supported him as he and his family rebuilt their lives.
“I want to finish with a win together,” he said before the season-ending national tournament his senior year. “That’s what I had in mind when I chose this school.”
He threw a six-inning no-hitter in his first tournament start and followed it up with a 12-inning complete game in which he struck out 21, threw 194 pitches and hit a game-winning home run. In his last game in the semifinals, he struck out 15 batters in a complete-game victory, but Ofunato lost in the final.
Rintaro is taking a different path to MLB than the biggest names to have played in Japan – Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki MatsuiOhtani and Roki Sasaki they first established themselves in the Japanese professional league.
See more information: The Japanese treat the Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal like a “presidential election.” The media sides with him
Leaving for the U.S. straight out of high school was a bold move for the 6-foot-2, 250-pound first baseman. So far, so good, as his home run in Trenton’s debut certificate. Fans lined up for autographs after the game and followed him to the clubhouse.
His coach, Adonis Smith, turned to the players in the dugout when Rintaro came to bat and told them to admire the moment.
“The next thing you know he hangs his head [of the bat] and he cleans the wall,” Smith said. “It was magical.”
Rintaro and Rōki – Japan’s next big names who share the same surname – could provide some magical moments in MLB. It is not yet known whether any of them are wearing a Dodgers uniform.
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
