The 2023 World Baseball Classic took place last spring, six years after 2017. Japan, which won its first competition in 2006 and the second competition in 2009, challenged for its third win at the 2023 WBC. In the past, Japanese baseball had a strong image of itself as a "small ball" specialized baseball, with its contact-oriented swing and detailed operation. The image of pitchers was that there are more finesse pitchers focusing on breaking balls than traditional players focusing on fastballs.메이저사이트

The 2023 WBC World Baseball Organization was a competition where you can witness the evolution of Japanese baseball. The symbol was Shohei Ohtani, the world's only player who won the American League MVP award in the 2021 season. Ohtani was able to hit more than 40 home runs as a batter and throw 100 miles (161 kilometers) of fastballs as a pitcher. The Samurai Japan, which stuck to the modern baseball trend of striking out with the fastest possible ball and hitting far away with strong batting, showed an image of a country that uses baseball as a national 技 by winning against the U.S., the birthplace of baseball, in the final. Notably, the scene where Ohtani took the mound in the ninth inning of the final and struck out Mike Trout, the best incumbent batter who was a teammate of the Los Angeles Angels, as a sweeper, left a memorable scene in baseball history.
 
At the 2023 WBC, Japan started as a four-starter. The first starter was Ohtani (then LA Angels, now LA Dodgers), who became a symbol of Japanese baseball, and Japan's best pitcher before Ohtani (San Diego Padres), who started in the first round of Group B against South Korea, and Roki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte Marines), who played against the Czech Republic in his third game, was the third starter, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (then Orix Buffaloes, now LA Dodgers), who won four Japanese professional baseball pitchers in 2021 and 2022, was the fourth starter. (The final starter was Shota Imanaga, left-hander who joined the Chicago Cubs in 2024 with a 15-3 record and a 2.91 ERA, pitched two innings.)
 

There is a reason why we brought up the topic of spring last year. Currently, Ohtani and Yamamoto, who were the first and fourth starters for the 2023 WBC Japanese national team, are both playing for the Dodgers. Maybe Roki Sasaki, who was the third starter, will join the team.
 
Sasaki, which was in dispute with Chiba Lotte last winter over its entry into the U.S. Major League, has finally won Chiba Lotte's permission. "Sasaki has expressed his desire to advance to the MLB ever since he joined our team," Chiba Lotte said. "Sasaki has spent five seasons with our team. We have decided to respect his will now."

When he was a high school student, Sasaki threw 163 kilometers, the highest speed ever recorded in Japanese high school baseball in 2019. His four-seam fastball of 163 kilometers per hour was Ohtani's new record of 160 kilometers. Having joined the Chiba Lotte Marines under the nickname of the "second Otani," Sasaki never took the mound in the first and second division teams in 2020. He devoted a year to bodybuilding and correcting pitching form and release point under the protection of Chiba Lotte, and made his first appearance in the first division of the 2021 season, recording 3 wins and 2 losses with an earned run average of 2.27 in 11 games. On April 10 in the 2022 season, his third year since his professional debut and second year in the first division, he displayed impressive pitching that will remain in history. He garnered 19 strikeouts and struck out 13 consecutive batters against Orix, achieving a perfect game that shut down all 27 batters. It was the youngest perfect game in Japanese pro baseball. He continued his perfect game in eight innings at the game against Nippon Ham on April 17, but failed to take the mound in the ninth inning, failing to display perfect games for two consecutive games.
 

Sasaki's overall performance in Japanese pro baseball was 29 wins and 15 losses with a 2.10 ERA and 88 walks in 64 starts and 394.2 innings. He also has 11.5 strikeouts and 2.0 walks per nine innings, respectively, which translates into a FIP record of 1.78.
 
The average speed of his four-seam fastball speed amounted to 99 miles (159.3 kilometers) last year. This is Sasaki that throws fastballs at the top of the league, which is dominated by monsters who throw fastballs. As long as he takes the mound in good health, he can throw powerful pitches on the mound, but he still has weaknesses. He has never met the regular innings even in a single season in the Japanese pro baseball league. The maximum number of innings was 129.1 innings in the 2022 season. The risk of injury was so great that his team, Chiba Lotte, gave him rest to protect him and suffered from various injuries.
 
Compared to Japanese professional baseball, which also turns six starters, the U.S. has a general five-starter system and has a much longer travel distance and many games than Japan, so there are doubts that Sasaki can become a full-time major leaguer.
 

Despite these doubts, many major league teams are expected to seek Sasaki. Even before Sasaki's entry into the Major League was confirmed, "ESPN" put Sasaki in second place after Juan Soto, the biggest fish in the FA market, and The Athletic also put Sasaki in third place after Soto and right-handed pitcher Corbin Burns, the winner of the 2021 National League Cy Young Award. When Sasaki's entry into the U.S. was confirmed, MLB.COM also introduced Sasaki as third in its FA ranking article.
 
Since Sasaki challenges MLB before the age of 25, he can receive a down payment of up to $5.75 million under the U.S.-Japan professional baseball agreement. Regardless of the size of the contract, you can choose the team you want to play for.
 
Sasaki is an attractive card for Major League teams that are thirsty for young starting pitchers in their early to mid-20s. Unlike Yamamoto, who entered the Major League after the age of 25 and secured the largest 10-year contract (325 million U.S. dollars) as a pitcher, Sasaki can sign an international amateur contract, which makes it affordable for him to use.