Rintaro Sasaki homered in the second at-bat of his U.S. amateur debut last week, and the blast grabbed headlines because the 19-year-old could be Japan's next big bat export to Major League Baseball. .
But let's not get confused.
Rintaro is a different Sasaki than the one who threw 26 fastballs timed in triple figures during a spectacular performance by Japan against Mexico in the 2022 World Baseball Classic. That was Rōki Sasaki, another phenom seemingly destined to earn a big payday in the MLB.
Rōki, 22, is in his fourth season pitching professionally in Japan for Chiba Lotte, where he has compiled a 25-12 record with a 1.91 ERA and 465 strikeouts in 363 innings. The 6-foot-4 right-hander would remain under Chiba Lotte's control until he accumulated nine years of service. A move to the MLB before that would require the team to release him.
Rintaro's home run for the Trenton Thunder in the hitherto obscure MLB Draft League is incidental compared to his long-term plans. He will suit up for Stanford next spring, avoiding the posting process Rōki is going through.
Rōki made history in April 2022 by striking out 13 batters in a row en route to tying a Nippon Professional Baseball record with 19 strikeouts in a game. And, by the way, in that game he also became the first pitcher in Japan to throw a perfect game in 28 years, and he pitched eight more perfect innings in his next start.
Rintaro made history by hitting 140 home runs in high school, the most ever by a Japanese player. He attended Hanamaki Higashi High School, as did Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, and Sasaki's father, Hiroshi, coached all three.
It all sounds like combined, the two Sasakis would form a creditable Ohtani clone. Could either of them, or even both, become Dodgers?
Rintaro is a long shot if he develops into an elite prospect because draft picks are in reverse order of last season's rankings. The Dodgers always seem to pick late in every round.
Rōki, however, could sign with the Dodgers if he is sent down. Whether they still covet him after spending more than $1 billion on Ohtani and Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is anyone's guess, although Andrew Friedman and other Dodgers executives have pursued him since he was in high school.
Both Sasakis have compelling life stories that distinguish themselves by charting their own paths rather than following the crowd.
As a former resident of the city of Rikuzentakata, Rōki represents the recovery of the Tohoku region that was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. When he was 9 years old, the tsunami claimed the lives of his father and grandparents. His mother moved him and his two brothers about 10 miles from the coast, to Ofunato, where he attended a small high school less prestigious than the numerous schools that recruited him.
At the time, he said he wanted to continue playing with the teammates who supported him as he and his family rebuilt their lives.
“I want to end up winning together,” he said before the season-ending national tournament his senior year. “That was what I had in mind when I chose this school.”
He threw a six-inning no-hitter in his first start in the tournament and followed up with a 12-inning complete game in which he struck out 21, threw 194 pitches and hit a game-winning home run. In his last start in the semifinals, he struck out 15 in a complete-game victory, but Ofunato lost in the finals.
Rintaro is taking a different path to MLB than the biggest names to ever play in Japan: Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Ohtani and Rōki Sasaki first established themselves in the Japanese professional league.
Leaving for the U.S. straight out of high school was a bold move for the 6-foot, 250-pound first baseman. So far so good, as witnessed by his home run in Trenton's opener. Fans lined up for autographs after the game and followed him to the clubhouse.
His manager, Adonis Smith, had addressed the players in the dugout when Rintaro came to bat and told them to admire the moment.
“The next thing you know, he drops his head. [of the bat] and he clears the wall,” Smith said. “It was magical.”
Rintaro and Rōki, the next great figures from Japan who share a last name, could provide magical moments in the MLB. It remains to be seen if any of them are wearing a Dodgers uniform.
