Rintaro Sasaki, an exciting Japanese high school baseball prospect, has decided to play college baseball in the U.S. instead of applying for the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) draft, ESPN reports.
Sasaki, 17, will be eligible to enter the Major League Baseball draft after his junior year of college, CBS Sports reports. According to ESPN, there are rumors that he plans to sign with Vanderbilt University.
The teenager currently attends Hanamaki-Higashi High School, the former high school of one of MLB’s biggest stars, Shohei Ohtani. The 6-foot, 250-pound athlete is currently a first baseman for his high school team, ESPN reports.
CBS Sports writer R. J. Anderson described Sasaki as having “near-elite raw power.” He added that Sasaki reportedly homered 140 times during his prep career.
Peter Flaherty, a reporter for Baseball America, wrote this about Sasaki’s style of play:
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“The younger Sasaki’s calling card is his thunderous raw power which comfortably grades out as a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale. While his power is his premier tool, Sasaki also has a knack for consistently finding the barrel and has a great feel to hit. He has plenty of bat speed as well as big time “buggy whip” in his hands. Sasaki has also shown an advanced approach and has walked twice as many times as he has struck out. Defensively, Sasaki is limited to first base and he fields the position well.”
Sasaki could potentially become a very popular athlete in America, but he might not be able to capitalize on his popularity for a few years, ESPN reports. Athletes in the NCAA recently gained the ability to profit off of their name, image and likeness. Sasaki, however, will most likely be in the U.S. on an F-1 visa, which does allow students to have off-campus jobs.
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