Rintaro Sasaki of Stanford University is visited by the SoftBank Hawks’s chief baseball officer Kenji Johjima at Stanford University in California on Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo not for sale) (Photo courtesy of the SoftBank Hawks) (Kyodo)
STANFORD (Kyodo) — SoftBank Hawks chief baseball officer Kenji Johjima made a courtesy visit to Rintaro Sasaki of Stanford University on Tuesday after securing negotiation rights to the slugger in last month’s Nippon Professional Baseball draft.
The 20-year-old Sasaki amassed what is touted as a Japanese high school record of 140 home runs, including those in unofficial games, before skipping NPB’s draft in 2023 to enroll at the university. He will be eligible for the Major League Baseball draft next July.
The prospect of MLB clubs seeking to draft him did not deter the Hawks from naming him as their first draft pick and they won a two-way lottery with the DeNA BayStars for the negotiation rights.
“I felt a kind of leadership from him that attracts people,” former Hawks and Seattle Mariners catcher Johjima said after meeting Sasaki at the university in California.
Their conversation centered on Sasaki’s life at university, with the negotiation to begin only after the U.S. college baseball season ends, normally around June.
“My first impression of him was a forward-thinking boy,” said Johjima, who handed Sasaki the winning lottery signed by Hawks president Sadaharu Oh, Japan baseball home run leader at 868, and himself.
“We want him to do well first and foremost, and it’d be great if it were to be with us by turn of fate.”
Sasaki did not speak to the media but released a statement through the university, stating he is “really honored” to be named as the Hawks’ No. 1 draft pick and is “fully focused” on his college classes as well as the new baseball season.