Last weekend Chiba threw Lotte Marines phenom Roki Sasaki Japan’s first perfect game in 28 years. He batted a record 19 batters, including a record-breaking 13 in a row at one point. It was one of the greatest pitching performances of all time in a pro league.
On Sunday Sasaki almost did it again.
The 20-year-old right-hander hit eight perfect innings in his first start since the perfect game. He knocked out 14 batters. Sasaki was pulled after throwing 102 pitches to protect his arm – he threw 105 pitches in the perfect game – with the game scoreless. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters won the game 1-0 in 10 innings.
“It was so exciting, words fail me. Our guys just persevered, and we kept saying on the bench, let’s get something going,” outfielder Chusei Mannami, who hit the game-winning home run for the Fighters, told the Japan Times after the game. “(Sasaki) is just too hard. The way the fork ball falls? Forget it.”
Sasaki has gone 51 up and 51 down in his last two starts with 33 strikeouts. He has retired a total of 52 consecutive batters, setting a new record for Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League. The MLB record is 46 consecutive batters, which right-hand Yusmeiro Petit retired from the San Francisco Giants in 2014.
Four starts into the season, Sasaki has allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in 31 innings. He dropped 56. Our RJ Anderson wrote a scouting report on Sasaki after his perfect game. Here is a snippet:
According to data from CBS Sports from Sunday’s launch, Sasaki’s fastball averaged better than 99.5 miles per hour and had 19.8 inches of induced vertical break and 15.4 inches of horizontal break. This is an elite, unmatched combination.
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Sasaki’s splitter checks in at 91.2 mph with 2.30 inches of induced vertical break and 7.80 inches of horizontal break. That speed would be considered the second fastest, behind only Hirokazu Sawamura of the Boston Red Sox. Sasaki’s break numbers, on the other hand, compare favorably to Blake Parker’s (2.9, 7.40). Parker’s splitter generated a 36 percent puff rate and a .232 average against last season.
MLB clubs reportedly pursued Sasaki when he was still in high school. He chose to stay in Japan and was the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NPB draft. Sasaki made his Marines debut last season, throwing 83 1/3 innings with a 1.84 ERA and 87 strikeouts.
When — and if — Sasaki will move to MLB is unknown. He must accumulate nine years of service to qualify for international free agency, and while he could ask the Marines to post him to MLB teams sooner, they are not required to do so. The Marines have fielded only one player in their history: infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2010.
Even if the Marines post Sasaki, MLB’s international free agent system would expose him to bonus pools, limiting his earning potential (the largest bonus pools are in the $6 million to $7 million range each year). Sasaki has to wait until he’s 25 to avoid the bonus pools. An international draft being discussed would further limit his options and earning potential.
The best opportunity for MLB fans to see Sasaki will be next spring’s World Baseball Classic. The tournament will be held again next year and Japan usually takes its best professional players to the event. Sasaki is obviously one of the best pitchers in his league.
No MLB pitcher has pitched two perfect games, let alone perfect games in back-to-back starts. Johnny Vander Meer is the only pitcher in history with the 1938 Cincinnati Reds to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts.