Major League Baseball's interest in Chiba Lotte Marines' Rocky Sasaki (23) is hot.
MLB.com, the official major league media, said on the 28th (Korean time), “Rocky Sasaki expressed his desire to play in the major league. “But when can you come?” he said, highlighting Sasaki’s entry into the major leagues.
Sasaki, who earned the nickname 'Reiwa's Monster' for his fastball speed of over 160 km/h, is a top prospect with 19 wins, 10 losses, ERA 2.00, and 376 strikeouts in a total of 46 games (283⅔ innings) in Japanese professional baseball. Sasaki, who joined Chiba Lotte as a first-round pick in 2020, gradually developed his skills while receiving extreme management, including not playing a single first-team game in his first year of joining, in order to build a body that could withstand the professional league. In 2022, he achieved the youngest perfect game in Japanese professional baseball history and emerged as a national ace by playing in 20 games (129⅓ innings) with 9 wins, 4 losses, and an average ERA of 2.02.
Sasaki, who played for the Japanese national team in the World Baseball Classic held in March of last year, led Japan to all-time victories along with Shohei Otani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (both of the Dodgers). However, last year's regular season was hampered by injuries and had a disappointing season. Sasaki, who suffered a finger blister and side muscle injury and missed most of the second half of the season, ended the season disappointingly despite achieving outstanding results, recording 7 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 1.78 in 15 games (91 innings). He has yet to have a season in which he has not completed a single regulation innings.
After the season ended, Sasaki told Chiba Lotte that he wanted to challenge for the major league. However, Chiba Lotte did not allow Sasaki's posting. The reason is that he has not yet achieved solid results. Chiba Lotte coach Masato Yoshii said, “If it were me, I would feel like I should repay the club a little more,” and said he would allow him to advance to the major leagues after he performs sufficiently well.
Sasaki, who had a conflict with Chiba Lotte over advancing to the major leagues, remained the only unsigned player among 12 clubs, and only managed to resolve the conflict by agreeing to a contract on the 26th. The Japanese media Chunichi Shimbun said, “Sasaki signed a contract with Chiba Lotte with an estimated annual salary of 80 million yen (about 722.83 million won). American media also reported the news of Sasaki’s contract and evaluated Sasaki as a prospect that surpasses Yamamoto.”
Yamamoto, a special ace who dominated Japanese professional baseball, signed a 12-year, $325 million (approximately 434.9 billion won) contract with the Dodgers this winter, surpassing Gerrit Cole (Yankees, 9 years, $324 million) to become the largest pitcher in Major League history. A new contract record was achieved. Yamamoto is a special ace with a total of 172 games (897 innings) in Japan, 70 wins, 29 losses, an ERA of 1.82, and 922 strikeouts. Last year, he recorded 16 wins, 6 losses, an average ERA of 1.23, and 169 strikeouts in 23 games (164 innings), becoming the first pitcher in Japanese professional baseball history to win four awards (multiple wins, ERA, strikeouts, and winning percentage) for three consecutive years, while also winning the Sawamura Award for three consecutive years. Won Pacific League MVP. Winning the Sawamura Award three years in a row is the second in history since Masaichi Kaneda (1956-1958), and the third in history to win the MVP for three consecutive years since Ichiro Suzuki (1994-1996).
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