UTK Special 11/9/24

Sasaki, Soto Money, and Sinclair

With news that Roki Sasaki will be posted to MLB, he immediately becomes the best pitcher available. He’s not just Yoshinobu Yamamoto level, but better. His comp is much more Shohei Ohtani than Yamamoto, both on stuff and risk. He won’t be cheap, but he will be pursued, so I asked around baseball on him.

Sasaki’s name is increasingly synonymous with electric talent and potential transcendence, yet also a fair amount of risk. Standing at 6’3” with a lean, athletic build, Sasaki’s pitch arsenal rivals the best in the world. His fastball has routinely hit triple digits, sitting 98 and touching 101, paired with a developing but nasty splitter and a tight slider that dives away from right-handed hitters. However, any evaluation of Sasaki isn’t complete without acknowledging his shoulder injury history—a fact that hangs as heavily as his potential when thinking about his transition to MLB.

Sasaki's 2023 season saw a shoulder strain that sidelined him for several weeks, an all-too-familiar occurrence in NPB and a forewarning for what could come stateside. The strain didn’t require surgery, but Sasaki's shoulder has shown that even young, elite talent like him is vulnerable to the rigorous demands of pitching workloads. Shoulder injuries are often unpredictable — even a minor strain can signify the potential for recurring issues if not carefully managed. The injury immediately raised alarms among MLB scouts because Japanese pitchers have a history of breaking down when they come to MLB, where the workload, travel, and schedule differ significantly from Japan.