Rintaro Sasaki, A Very Talented Slugger, Has To Choose One Between NPB System Or Entering The MLB Draft.

Abby A.

Record-breaking Rinatro Sasaki is widely considered one of the most powerful teenage hitters ever. He is also the son of Hiroshi Sasaki, who coaches baseball at Hanamaki Higashi High School. Surprisingly, Rintaro Sasaki decided to move to the United States of America to play, giving the Major League Baseball an easier opportunity to recruit him. This act was very unusual because Japanese baseball players normally go through Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball System before heading to America’s Major League Baseball. Sasaki has made it clear that he chose America’s Major League Baseball over Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball System because he wanted more control over what he posts and his career in general.

Hiroshi, Rinatro‘s father, has even personally coached Major League Baseball stars Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi. Rintaro Sasaki is from Hanamaki, Iwate. Rintaro Sasaki is a 2024 graduate of Hanamaki Higashi High School in Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan. Rintaro Sasaki has even set the Japanese high school world record with 140 career home runs. If Sasaki was still attending college, he would currently be in his sophomore year of college at Stanford University of California. However, he has already dropped out to pursue his baseball passion.

In fact, due to all of Rintaro Sasaki‘s baseball achievements, he was treated like a celebrity in Japan. He would form crowds full of people to watch him practice batting. Some of his games even had national TV coverage just because Sasaki was playing.

Sasaki’s bold decision to skip the Nippon Professional Baseball System is seen as very risky as he is choosing to step away from the guaranteed baseball career of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball System and walking towards the uncertain, risky, not guaranteed profession of America’s Major League Baseball. If you were Sasaki, which option would you choose?

SOURCES USED

https://app.letterly.io/api/letterly/documents/view?url=letterly%2Fdocuments%2Flink%2F82608

https://gostanford.com/sports/baseball/roster/player/rintaro-sasaki