Dylan Hernandez: Leave Japanese pitching phenom Rōki Sasaki out of proposed MLB international draft
LOS ANGELES — He could be the best pitching prospect to ever come from the same Japanese prefecture that produced Shohei Ohtani. He strikes out an average of 13 batters per nine innings and his fastball approaches 102 mph. He pitched a perfect game this season and nearly pitched another in his very next start, denied only by his team's inability to score and his manager's decision to remove ...
LOS ANGELES â He could be the best pitching prospect to ever come from the same Japanese prefecture that produced Shohei Ohtani.
He strikes out an average of 13 batters per nine innings and his fastball approaches 102 mph.
He pitched a perfect game this season and nearly pitched another in his very next start, denied only by his team's inability to score and his manager's decision to remove him after eight unblemished innings.
Just 20 years old, RĹki Sasaki could be the best pitcher who won't be at Dodger Stadium for the All-Star Game on July 19. He's still in Japan, scheduled to represent the Chiba Lotte Marines a week later in Nippon Professional Baseball's
