![](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/82687188007-gty-2206388374.jpg\"\/)
![\"play\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/icon-play-alt-white.svg.svg+xml\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
ARod thinks international games for the MLB could be a huge success<\/p>\n
Alex Rodriguez is showing his support in the MLB international and Japan games.<\/p>\n
Sports Seriously<\/p>\n
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. \u2014 Rintaro Sasaki didn\u2019t so much choose baseball as it chose him: Born to a legendary high school coach in Japan, gifted with a massive frame that generates prodigious power, and eventually addicted to the game like he was just another diamond junkie from Florida or Texas or California.<\/p>\n
Yet as Sasaki passes the one-year anniversary of his arrival in the USA, perhaps his greatest trait is emerging in a game that demands, above all, a resolute response to challenges.<\/p>\n
As Sasaki navigates his freshman season at Stanford, a pattern is emerging about a young man who seems determined to leave his comfort zone, to embrace the difficult and solve for the best way around an obstacle, with the confidence to know he\u2019ll eventually arrive at his destination.<\/p>\n
The most celebrated player on the traditionally powerful Cardinal is determined to fit in. He has no interpreter by his side, instead chipping away day by day, month by month at a language barrier that grows smaller with time. That growth can be felt with every sentence he speaks, his youthful exuberance wanting to the pour the words out even as his mind races to find the right ones.<\/p>\n
It is no different in his vocation as a ballplayer, where the left-handed slugger unflinchingly embraces the role of a young star with the potential to disrupt baseball\u2019s global ecosystem.<\/p>\n
Sasaki, 19, is aiming to become the first player in Japan to forgo the NPB draft, play collegiately in the U.S. and then launch a professional career through Major League Baseball\u2019s draft \u2013 for which he\u2019ll be eligible in 2026.<\/p>\n
It is a move that toes the line between wise and audacious, given that, in a best-case scenario, he\u2019d be a first-round pick and recipient of a seven-figure bonus shortly after his 21st birthday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a mild subversion of agreements both official and gentlemanly between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball, which are designed to prevent an utter harvesting of Asian talent and keep players with their NPB clubs at least a few seasons before testing their talent against the very best on the globe.<\/p>\n
Yet as Sasaki put the finishing touches on a prep career that saw him hit a national record 140 home runs, his father Hiroshi, the legendary coach at Hanamaki Higashi High School, sat down to plot the best path forward.<\/p>\n
Hiroshi Sasaki was the high school coach for both the great Shohei Ohtani<\/a> as well as Los Angeles Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. Both were posted by their NPB clubs and took the two traditional routes to MLB \u2013 Ohtani as an international free agent younger than 25 who was subject to a capped signing bonus, and Kikuchi as a veteran free to sign with the highest bidder.<\/p>\n As Hiroshi sat his son down on the precipice of adulthood, another path emerged: Go to the USA. Play for a baseball power and get an exceptional education, perhaps at Vanderbilt or UCLA. Leverage the power in his 6-feet, 270-pound frame and pierce the scouts\u2019 ears with loud noises off his aluminum bat.<\/p>\n Sasaki listened and eventually settled on Stanford. The move meant leaving family behind and depriving his countrymen an up-close look at his development.<\/p>\n Yet once a decision is made, Sasaki does not hesitate. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t worry about that too much. I\u2019m just doing it my way,\u201d Sasaki told USA TODAY Sports during the Cardinal\u2019s Atlantic Coast Conference series at Virginia. \u201cI don\u2019t care about how everybody might think about it.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is my life. This is my baseball life. We\u2019re doing it my way. It\u2019s a very nice time right now.\u201d<\/p>\n As Stanford\u2019s regular No. 3 hitter, Sasaki is getting an elite education at college baseball\u2019s highest level \u2013 from experiencing both ends of walk-off emotions to the bonds with teammates growing stronger.<\/p>\n The freshman rollercoaster<\/p>\n There was little chance Sasaki would be awed by playing in the ACC, which along with the Southeastern Conference produced every participant in the 2024 College World Series.<\/p>\n He has played in front of crowds exceeding 40,000 in Japan, where the Koshien high school baseball tournament is a nationally-televised spectacle every summer. After enrolling at Stanford in April 2024, he played in the MLB draft league, where he hit four homers and posted a .783 OPS against competition roughly three years his senior.<\/p>\n So far? He\u2019s certainly holding his own.<\/p>\n Sasaki has posted an .829 OPS, with a .298\/.387\/.442 line, ranks second on the Cardinal with 25 RBI and is tied for fourth with four home runs.<\/p>\n Yet he\u2019s also learning about the grind like no other that is college baseball, especially in the era of extreme conference realignment.<\/p>\n Sasaki roared out of the gate with 28 hits in his first 78 at-bats, a .359 clip that included all four of his homers. The Cardinal, too, started strongly, racing out to a 16-3 that included taking two of three at traditional power North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and then sweeping Duke at home.xt<\/p>\n Sasaki ended the middle game of that series, crushing his second home run of the game, a three-run shot that run-ruled the Blue Devils. And the Cardinal climbed to No. 14 in the USA TODAY Sports college baseball coaches\u2019 poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n For now, that proved to be an apex for slugger and team. Sasaki fell into a 2-for-22 slide, during which the Cardinal got swept at home by Cal, then had to make their second cross-country trek for a conference series, this one at Virginia.<\/p>\n After the Cavaliers scored 24 runs to win the first two games, Stanford held leads of 4-0, 7-5 and 8-6 in the ninth inning of Saturday\u2019s finale. That\u2019s when a one-out, one-on grounder was scorched at Sasaki. The ball took a phantom hop over his head for a single.<\/p>\n Virginia tied it, walked it off in 10 innings and sent the Cardinal onward, a two-hour bus trip in the offing before they could fly back the next morning to the Bay Area.<\/p>\n Most power conference teams will play upward of 60 games, with College World Series participants approaching 70. While Sasaki\u2019s high school club reached the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Koshien, this grind is new.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s peaks and valleys,\u201d says Stanford coach David Esquer, in his eighth season at the helm on The Farm. \u201cIt\u2019s getting used to it over the long term. It won\u2019t take him long before he\u2019s got his feet fully on the ground and a little bit more consistent.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, it\u2019s just typical freshman baseball: It\u2019s hot and a little off and then they find it again.\u201d<\/p>\n For Sasaki, the concept of a three-game series is a novelty, accustomed as he is to tournament play in Japan. The travel is certainly new and might be considered rigorous even for professionals: Between early March and mid-May, the Cardinal will make five trips to the Eastern time zone for conference series.<\/p>\n That\u2019s as many East Coast swings that the neighboring \u2013 and well-compensated San Francisco Giants \u2013 will make over their 162-game season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went to the ACC and we\u2019re having a great time,\u201d says Sasaki. \u201cBut it\u2019s also so tough, traveling every single time. When the season started, we were doing very well, now not so good as a team. We did a good job, but we\u2019re missing some little things.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we will come back soon. We will still keep working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘He understands baseball’<\/p>\n When the Cardinal takes its show on the road, junior second baseman Jimmy Nati notices one thing when Sasaki takes batting practice: The opposing team is typically at their dugout railing, wanting the sensory experience of a Sasaki batting practice session.<\/p>\n \u201cThat speaks for itself,\u201d says Nati. \u201cThe ball jumps off the bat. You don\u2019t even have to be watching. You just hear it \u2013 it sounds a little different.\u201d<\/p>\n Even when it doesn\u2019t, Sasaki proves a quick study. After fouling a pair of balls into the batting cage\u2019s netting, Esquer pauses his BP tosses and offers a word of advice. Sasaki deposits the next pitch over the pavilion in right field at Disharoon Park. The next leaves the yard just to the left of dead center field.<\/p>\n A few pitches later, a Stanford assistant shouts words of advice. \u201c\u2019Taro! Top hand!\u201d A couple swings later, the balls once again fly over the wall.<\/p>\n That raw power is certainly Sasaki\u2019s lane into the major leagues. His exit velocity was measured as high as 108 mph during his stint as an 18-year-old in the MLB draft league. He moves particularly well for his size at first base and would not hurt a team there defensively.<\/p>\n While MLB has banned the shift in the big leagues, collegiate opponents have no such restriction and treat Sasaki like David Ortiz, playing their second baseman in shallow right field and the third baseman where the shortstop would normally be. Respect.<\/p>\n Scouts who have watched Sasaki on multiple occasions say their main concern is his lack of projectability \u2013 that what they see now is likely close to what his finished, professional tool kit will resemble.<\/p>\n Yet there is never a ceiling on baseball growth, and as the son of a decorated coach, Sasaki is working from a strong baseline.<\/p>\n \u201cHe understands the game,\u201d says Esquer. \u201cEarly on, there may have been a little bit of a language barrier, but there\u2019s no baseball language barrier. He understands baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of that is by design, but a little osmosis couldn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n Ohtani has spoken admirably about Sasaki\u2019s swing, and while Sasaki won\u2019t ever stand eye-to-eye with the 6-foot-4 Ohtani, at least he can hit the ball nearly as hard as him now. Yeah, a lot has changed since an 8-year-old Sasaki was in the two-way talent\u2019s orbit when Ohtani was a high school phenom.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember I met him and took a picture with him,\u201d remembers Sasaki.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was very tall.\u201d<\/p>\n Sasaki\u2019s more lucid memories involve early mornings or late nights working out with Hiroshi, getting in swings in between his father\u2019s coaching duties.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a child, we practiced every single day, when I was a child, when I was in high school,\u201d says Sasaki. \u201cHe taught me a lot of baseball stuff growing up. Baseball skills and also how we live life. He was very important, my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet Hiroshi and Reika, Rintaro\u2019s mother, aren\u2019t around now to fill in the life gaps, with Hiroshi still busy with his high school coaching season. It seems Rintaro is handling that piece of it quite well on his own.<\/p>\n Loose and athletic<\/p>\n A borderline pitch just off the outside corner is called a ball, and the partisan road crowd roars its disapproval. Sasaki turns toward the Stanford dugout, a slight grin creasing his face.<\/p>\n A tight situation will emerge in the field, and Sasaki gestures toward Nati at second base, getting his attention and using his glove to shield his face.<\/p>\n And then he will stick his tongue out.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a language barrier there at first, a little shy as you would be in a new country, a new college,\u201d says Nati, who joined Stanford straight from Australia and has been a sounding board for Sasaki. \u201cIt took him a few weeks. And then when he came out of his shell, he\u2019s hilarious. He\u2019s an unbelievable teammate. I just have so much fun with him.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when things are going bad, he turns to me and says, \u2018Stay positive!\u2019 and sticks his tongue out and just continues to have fun. It\u2019s pretty cool to see how mature he is, even as a freshman.\u201d<\/p>\n Esquer was nearly as impressed with Sasaki\u2019s second-quarter report card as he is his prodigious power, given Stanford\u2019s academic rigor and all that\u2019s on Sasaki\u2019s plate.<\/p>\n \u201cA hard worker, so good-natured,\u201d says Esquer. \u201cThe one that sticks out to me is, just great team spirit. Just really loves playing with the team and being around his teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s such a positive force, team-wise. He\u2019s a hard worker who sets a high standard no matter what he does. That part of it \u2013 not knowing what that adjustment is going to be like as far as the classroom work and baseball and the lifestyle \u2013 he\u2019s done great.\u201d<\/p>\n Sasaki soon turns 20 years old and will be draft-eligible upon his 21st birthday. Baseball America ranks him 19th among collegiate prospects eligible for the 2026 draft; Esquer says Sasaki\u2019s game is \u201ctracking to be at the highest level before he\u2019s out of here,\u201d noting that \u201c365 days does a lot for you.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no trick to it or shortcut \u2013 it\u2019s just putting in the hours, growing and maturing.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, Sasaki is enjoying relative anonymity as a collegian, even as his countrymen seek him out at games and pay their respects, one coast to the next. Perhaps in just a few years, he\u2019ll command headlines back home the way Ohtani does, the way Ichiro Suzuki <\/a>did before him.<\/p>\n Year 1 in the USA is now in the books. The path no one foresaw has opened up nicely, thanks to a father\u2019s foresight and a teenager\u2019s adaptability.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a great time,\u201d says Sasaki. \u201cHaving fun, even outside baseball. Having a very good time.<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate playing right now. And getting a great experience and a great opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n