Chaim Bloom needs to make Japanese phenom right-hander Roki Sasaki a future member of the Boston Red Sox
The last big time Japanese pitcher the Red Sox made a massive commitment for was Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Japanese import would play six seasons in Boston winning a World Series in 2007.
There is now a new Japanese star that is carving up opposing batters at the plate. Roki Sasaki is a 20-year-old phenom who’s pitching for the Japan's Chiba Lotte Marines.
A few weeks back Sasaki pitched the first perfect game in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in 28 years. In that game, he set a new record for strikeout with 19 and struck out 13 in a row.
On Saturday, Sasaki nearly threw his second perfect game. The young righty struck out 14 over eight perfect innings against Nippon before being pulled. Sasaki threw 102 pitches over the course of his start topping 101 mph on the radar gun.
The right-handed hurler has retired the last 52 batters he has faced and lowered his ERA to 1.16 in four starts this season. He has 56 strikeouts during the span of those starts.
Sasaki is dominating the Japanese circuit at such a young age. Many are wondering when the young phenom will make the jump to Major League Baseball?
That’s a complicated answer due to the rules in place for players in Japan. If he is posted to MLB before he’s 25 there would be a cap between $4.75 and $5.75 million to spend to try and sign international players in their pool, per MLB.
If the Marines post him, they would receive 20 percent of the guaranteed value of his contract. The rules change once Sasaki turns 25 or older regarding his posting and money the Marines would receive.
It’s unlikely that Sasaki will reach MLB before 2027. But if the young righty wants to play in the majors before then, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom should make a play for him.
This past offseason the Red Sox were heavily connected with Japanese outfielder Seiya Suzuki. Unfortunately, Boston lost out to the Cubs on the outfielder.
The Red Sox are getting deeper within their system on young pitching. Chris Sale under contract through 2024 with a vesting club & player option for 2025 and other older arms in free agent to be Nathan Eovaldi, the team will be looking for younger stars.
In the Red Sox system, they have Garrett Whitlock who is blooming in front our eyes. Tanner Houck has top of the rotation stuff and with Josh Winckowksi, Brayan Bellom Bryan Mata, Jay Groome, Connor Seabold and Kutter Crawford, Boston has options.
Sasaki in the fold could give the Red Sox another electric arm with the potential of Angels star Shohei Ohtani like stardom. I should caution that Sasaki is not a two-way player like Ohtani.
However Sasaki in a short sample so far seems different. Sasaki has a fireball of a fastball and The Pitching Ninja has said he has a soul-stealing splitter.
The young star has been courted by MLB scouts since he graduated high school. With the emergence of Ohtani, baseball teams want the next big Japanese star. Sasaki looks like he’s on his way to be that star, however the quirky Japanese posting rules will delay his stardom in MLB. However when he’s finally posted, Bloom and the Red Sox need to invest in the young phenom.
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