Don’t look now, but Penn State Athletics landed another international superstar. According to Penn State baseball, the top Japanese pitching prospect for the 2027 MLB draft Genei Sato committed to playing for the program on Monday. The 21-year-old right-hander is expected to leave Japan in the spring and enroll at Penn State, where he plans to join the baseball team for the 2027 season. Sato previously played for Sendai University in Shibata, Japan, posting a 2.22 ERA, while adding 202 strikeouts in 170.1 innings, just 62 walks and a 2.22 ERA.He averages nearly 11 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. According to Baseball America, Sato is already throwing a high-90s fastball, along with a splitter that ranges in the low 90s. He already has experience facing top NCAA hitters, having pitched in the Japan-USA Collegiate Baseball Championship Series earlier this year.Sato joins a long list of international top prospects to join a Penn State program in 2025, including:No. 1 NHL prospect Gavin McKenna (Canada)World champion freestyle wrestler Masanosuke Ono (Japan)Tibor Mirtic and Sasa Ciani (Basketball- Slovenia)Melih Tunca (Basketball- Turkey)Ivan Juric (Basketball- Croatia)Sato was a projected first-round pick in the 2026 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft before electing to play for the Nittany Lions.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. —

Don’t look now, but Penn State Athletics landed another international superstar.

According to Penn State baseball, the top Japanese pitching prospect for the 2027 MLB draft Genei Sato committed to playing for the program on Monday.

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The 21-year-old right-hander is expected to leave Japan in the spring and enroll at Penn State, where he plans to join the baseball team for the 2027 season.

Sato previously played for Sendai University in Shibata, Japan, posting a 2.22 ERA, while adding 202 strikeouts in 170.1 innings, just 62 walks and a 2.22 ERA.

He averages nearly 11 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.

According to Baseball America, Sato is already throwing a high-90s fastball, along with a splitter that ranges in the low 90s.

He already has experience facing top NCAA hitters, having pitched in the Japan-USA Collegiate Baseball Championship Series earlier this year.

Sato joins a long list of international top prospects to join a Penn State program in 2025, including:

No. 1 NHL prospect Gavin McKenna (Canada)World champion freestyle wrestler Masanosuke Ono (Japan)Tibor Mirtic and Sasa Ciani (Basketball- Slovenia)Melih Tunca (Basketball- Turkey)Ivan Juric (Basketball- Croatia)

Sato was a projected first-round pick in the 2026 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft before electing to play for the Nittany Lions.