A Japanese high school baseball phenom is choosing to play college ball in the United States rather than playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Rintaro Sasaki, who holds the Japanese high school record for home runs, announced his decision to play baseball at an American university rather than enter into the NPB draft, where he was expected to be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, according to ESPN.
The decision is an unprecedented one for a player of his talent, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a Japanese player has elected to make a move like this.
Chicago White Sox prospect Rikuu Nishida followed a similar route by passing on playing in the NPB and going to play college ball at the University of Oregon.
He was selected in the 11th round of the 2023 draft by the White Sox.
The move will allow Sasaki to enter the MLB Draft several years earlier than he would have been able to under Major League Baseball’s international amateur rules.
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It’s expected that Sasaki will draw plenty of interest from Division I schools, but it’s believed that Vanderbilt has an early edge, ESPN reported.
However, there is some question about how he will fare against talent in the United States.
Sasaki attends Hanamaki-Higashi High School where his father, Hiroshi coaches, and it is the same school where superstar Shohei Ohtani played high school ball.
The 17-year-old first baseman has been slashing .413/.514/.808 and has 140 home runs to his name during the course of his high school career.
While name, image, likeness deals have been a game changer for college athletes, Sasaki may have a more difficult time securing NIL deals due to his international status.
Thus making it less likely that NIL potential will play much less of a factor into Sasaki’s decision as to where he plays college baseball.
