Japanese baseball star Roki Sasaki announces he is joining Los Angeles Dodgers after rejecting the Yankees
Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old pitching phenom out of Japan, has signed with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, according to an announcement on the player’s Instagram page.
Sasaki was one of the top free agents on the market this offseason – outside of Juan Soto, who signed with the New York Mets – and there had been intense competition for his signature.
The finalists were believed to be the Dodgers, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the San Diego Padres.
Other teams, like the Mets, the Boston Red Sox, and the New York Yankees showed interest in Sasaki but were not among the final teams vying for his services.
Sasaki becomes the third major Japanese baseball star to sign with the Dodgers in the past two seasons. He will now join fellow pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and two-way player and National League MVP Shohei Ohtani.
The addition of Sasaki already adds to the Dodgers ultra-powered starting rotation which includes the arms of Ohtani, Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and Bobby Miller.
23-year-old Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki has signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers
He’s the third Japanese free agent to sign there in the past two seasons – joining fellow pitching star Yoshinobu Yamamoto (L) and National League MVP Shohei Ohtani (R)
Sasaki is known for his blistering fastball – which tops out at 102.5mph (165kph). He also throws a forkball, a curveball, and a slider.
The best game he’s ever pitched came back on April 10, 2022 when Sasaki pitched a perfect game while setting the Nippon Professional Baseball record for the most strikeouts in a game (19) and set a world record for the most consecutive strikeouts (13).
He was selected first overall in the 2019 NPB Draft by the Chiba Lotte Marines – but didn’t make his first appearance until the 2020 season.
Across his NPB career, he accrued a lifetime record of 29-15 with an ERA of 2.10 and 505 strikeouts.
Born in 2001, Sasaki’s family lost their home in the tsunami that resulted from the 2011 Japanese earthquakes. His father and grandparents died in the storm, while Sasaki, his mother, and his two brothers lived in a nursing home as the area recovered.
In high school, Sasaki broke the Japanese high school baseball record for pitch velocity set by Ohtani.
The addition of Sasaki makes the 2025 Dodgers potentially the most talented baseball roster in the history of the game.
Los Angeles won the World Series in five games this past season over the New York Yankees – winning the decisive final game by overcoming a 5-0 deficit.
