Roki sasaki for free#
Roki sasaki pro#

Teams nominate their first choice in secret, and the player's negotiating rights are decided by drawing lots. Unlike the American style amateur drafts, the first round of NPB's draft gives every team an equal chance of landing their first-choice selection. The Hanshin Tigers and Giants also named Okugawa as their top choice. New Swallows skipper Shingo Takatsu, the second Japanese former major leaguer to manage in NPB, drew the winning lot in a three-way drawing. The second-biggest name in the annual draft, Yasunobu Okugawa, who pitched Ishikawa Prefecture's Seiryo High School to the final of this summer's national high school championship, went to the CL's Yakult Swallows. Neither of the two clubs that have steadfastly rejected using the posting system, the Central League's Yomiuri Giants and the Pacific League's SoftBank Hawks, named Sasaki as their top pick. 'I dreamed I drew the winning lot, so I expected I would.'įor those wishing to see Sasaki pitch in the majors, the Marines are a team that might conceivably post him. 'I don't have any real impression of Ofunato, where he's from, but I'll be going that way soon,' Iguchi said.

In addition to the Fighters, three other Pacific League clubs named Sasaki as their top pick - the Marines, Seibu Lions and Rakuten Eagles.

Roki sasaki for free#

The Fighters, who developed both Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani before allowing them to move to the major leagues via the posting system before they were eligible to file for free agency, were the first club to state publicly that Sasaki would be their first choice. Prior to the draft, Sasaki held brief talks with scouts from every one of NPB's 12 clubs except the Nippon Ham Fighters. 'I think it would be great if I could surpass the current Japanese record for (pitching) speed.' I want to become the best pitcher in Japan and contribute to a championship team.' 'It seems that I'm now at the starting line. 'I'd been wondering what team it would be, and now I'm relieved,' Sasaki said in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture. The pitcher, however, has said he is not yet thinking about a move to the majors.

Roki sasaki pro#

2 press conference that he wants to go to a strong club, suggested he would be willing to play for whichever team won his rights on draft day.īecause of his high standing among overseas scouts, Sasaki has the option of not signing a Nippon Professional Baseball contract and instead turning pro with a major league club next June. Sasaki made front-page news this summer when his Ofunato High School manager controversially kept the right-hander out of Iwate Prefecture's championship game in order to protect his arm. He was the best player available and now it's incumbent on us to nurture his potential.' 'It's scary to think how far he might go. 'He's an extraordinary pitcher,' Marines manager Tadahito Iguchi said after drawing the winning lot. The 17-year-old Sasaki's fastball has been clocked in competition at 160 kilometers (99.4 miles) per hour and as high as 163 kph in a national team tryout camp. The Associated Press contributed to this report.The Lotte Marines took hard-throwing high school pitcher Roki Sasaki in Japanese baseball's amateur draft Thursday after four teams selected the teen talent who has been on the radar of major league clubs. His father was killed in the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent meltdown of three nuclear reactors that devastated that part of the country. He grew up in the northeastern Japanese prefecture of Iwate.

But reports in Japan say Sasaki is unlikely to be posted for MLB clubs in the near future. Sasaki reportedly had drawn widespread interest from MLB teams as a high school pitcher thanks to his high velocity before signing with Chiba Lotte in 2020 at age 18. Players don't need to go through the posting system if they have run up enough time in Japanese baseball to become free agents. Reports in Japan say Sasaki is unlikely to be posted for MLB clubs.

Through five starts this season, Sasaki has struck out 60 while allowing 13 hits and five walks in 36 innings. He allowed two earned runs, walked three, hit two batters and gave up six hits. Sasaki worked five innings Sunday in Chiba Lotte's 6-3 win and was credited with the victory. The 20-year-old right-hander uses a 100 mph fastball and a wicked splitter to keep batters off balance. In the perfect game and the eight innings of perfection, Sasaki had 33 strikeouts against 51 batters.