Stanford baseball will return to the field in its quest to return to greatness at the beginning of 2026. Coming off of another disappointing season in which they finished 27-25 and missed the postseason for the second straight season, the Cardinal are hungry to get back into the national spotlight and return to the postseason for the first time since 2023.

In order to do that, the Cardinal will need everyone on their revamped roster to step up and deliver when their number is called on. One of those players, Japanese phenom Rintaro Sasaki, will go into the 2026 season as Stanford’s headlining player in what could be his final college season before he turns pro. For Sasaki’s pro career, he may already know where it will begin.

Earlier this month, the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan held its annual draft, where teams select rookies to fill out their rosters ahead of the new season.

Sasaki, a 2024 graduate of Hanamaki Higashi High School in Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan, was drafted in the first round by both the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and the Yokohoma DeNa Bay Stars, with the Hawks winning his negotiation rights.

This means that when Sasaki’s college career ends and he is eligible to turn pro, the Hawks will get the first crack at trying to secure Sasaki’s services if he decides to return to Japan.

The Hawks, who won Japan’s Pacific League pennant this season, won a two-way lottery with the DeNa BayStars for the right to negotiate with the Stanford first baseman.

Sasaki, who was eligible for the NPB draft in the fall of 2023, elected to skip it and instead enroll at Stanford. Players are eligible for pro drafts twice, right out of high school at 18, or three years removed from high school at 21 if they don’t enter at 18.

But just because the Hawks won the negotiation rights does not mean that Sasaki will sign with them when he is able. Also eligible for the 2026 MLB Draft, Sasaki could opt to forgo a professional career in Japan and make the jump straight to the MLB ranks out of college, which is something that only a handful of Japanese players have successfully done.

When speaking on Sasaki’s impending decision, former Seattle Mariner and current Hawks chief baseball officer, Kenji Johjima, said that any decision that Sasaki settles on will be respected by the team.

“I respect whichever you choose between Japan and the United States,” Johjima said. “It’s a unique situation with him. He wouldn’t be joining us from the start of next year (even if he chooses us), but we saw him as an attractive player worth taking that risk.”

Since coming to the United States, Sasaki has taken the college baseball world by storm. Despite Stanford’s struggles last year, Sasaki was a major bright spot. In his first season playing for the team, Sasaki hit .269 with seven home runs and 41 RBI in 52 games. Considering that it took him time adjust and find a rhythm, his first season on The Farm was very promising.

While Sasaki is reportedly “sincerely honored” and “encouraged” by his NPB draft status, Sasaki’s management company said that his decision will not be coming any time soon, and that his focus is solely on the upcoming season with Stanford. Looking to break out even more and help Stanford regain success, expect Sasaki to come out firing to start 2026.