Roki Sasaki Spins Masterful 19-K Perfect Game In Japan College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

Image credit:(Photo by Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)

When Shohei Ohtani was a teenager, he quickly established himself as a player to watch. It was in part because he had top-of-the-scale velocity, and part because he was a power-hitting outfielder, making him the best two-way player in at least a century.

For a number of years, Ohtani starred for Nippon in the Japanese Pacific League of the NPB, providing highlight after highlight for savvy U.S. baseball fans who keep an eye on what’s happening across the Pacific.

He’s not a two-way player, but Chiba Lotte righthander Roki Sasaki is Japan’s best young star since Ohtani. And one can argue that he’s providing indications that he will soon be one of the best pitchers in the world (if he isn’t already).

He’s wowed by regularly touching 100 mph (161 kph) as a starter. Now as a 20-year-old he’s pitched a game that is one of the best in pro baseball history.

Sasaki threw a 105-pitch perfect game yesterday. In nine innings and only 105 pitches, he struck out 19. It was the first perfect game in the NPB since 1994. At one point he struck out 13 batters in a row. His slider and splitter were devastating, but he also reached back for 102 mph when he needed it and regularly was sitting at 100 mph. For this season, he’s averaged 99 mph with his fastball.

Sasaki sat at 95 mph and touched 99 last season, so he’s taken a significant step forward early this season.

Only two balls left the infield. There was never a ball put in play that seemed to have any chance of becoming a hit. It was a completely dominant effort from a pitcher with some of the best stuff in the world.

You can see every out of the game here:

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