HANAMAKI, Japan — Japanese power hitter Rintaro Sasaki has announced he will sign with the Miami Marlins, choosing to pursue his baseball career in the United States rather than playing professionally in Japan.
Last week, the Marlins selected Sasaki in the eighth round of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft out of Stanford University. At the same time, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks chose him with a first-round pick in the Nippon Professional Baseball draft, setting up a difficult crossroads decision for the young slugger.
The weight of that choice was clearly visible at a Sunday press conference held in his hometown, where Sasaki struggled to hold back tears while addressing the crowd.
“More than anyone else, I believe I understand my own limitations and how much I still need to improve,” Sasaki said. “Even if this path ultimately turns out to be the wrong choice, I do not want to live with regret. Rather than defining my life by whether I succeed or fail, I want to define it by whether I had the courage to take on a challenge. With that belief in mind, I ultimately decided to pursue this path.”
Sasaki has deep roots in Japanese baseball royalty — he played under Toru Ohtani, father of Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani. He also holds the all-time Japanese high school home run record with an impressive 140 career home runs. Coming out of high school, he already turned heads by opting out of the Nippon Professional Baseball draft to instead attend Stanford University.
Now 21 years old and playing first base, Sasaki spent two seasons with Stanford. As a sophomore last year, he batted .262 with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs.
Reflecting on the long road to his decision, Sasaki explained what ultimately tipped the scales. “I went back and forth on this decision until the very end,” he said. “Ever since I chose to attend Stanford, I have always had a strong desire to challenge myself in the United States. In the end, that desire won out. I felt that I wanted to see how far I could go by challenging myself in America, and that feeling became stronger than anything else.”
