FILE – Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki throws a pitch during the first inning of a World Baseball Classic game against Mexico, Monday, March 20, 2023, in Miami. Sasaki, the 22-year-old Japanese pitcher who could move to Major League Baseball next season, will miss his second straight start this weekend with an unspecified right arm injury, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
TOKYO (AP) — Roki Sasaki, the 22-year-old Japanese pitcher who could spend next season in Major League Baseball, will miss his second straight start this weekend because of an unspecified right arm problem. Chiba Lotte Marines manager Masato Yoshii said the change was due to the right arm injury. “poor condition of his right arm (Sasaki’s).” It’s unclear when he’ll pitch again. Sasaki is 5-2 in nine starts this season and has 70 strikeouts. He’s pitched 59-2/3 innings with a 1.96 ERA.
TOKYO (AP) — Roki Sasaki, the 22-year-old Japanese pitcher who could join Major League Baseball next season, will miss his second straight start this weekend with an unspecified right arm injury, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.
Chiba Lotte Marines manager Masato Yoshii explained the change as a result of “poor condition of his right arm (Sasaki’s)”, Kyodo reported on Thursday. It is not yet clear when it will launch again.
Sasaki is 5-2 in nine starts this season with 70 strikeouts. He has pitched 59 2/3 innings with a 1.96 ERA.
If Sasaki does make a move to MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to be a top candidate, where he could join fellow Japanese players Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Sasaki could land another incredible contract, but he would cost an MLB team relatively little if he signed before age 25.
Japanese players must have nine years of service time in their major league to become free agents. They can join MLB earlier under an agreement between Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB that established a release system under which a Japanese club makes a player available for auction and receives a release fee: 20% of the first $25 million of a major league contract, 17.5% of the next $25 million and 15% of any amount over $50 million.
However, a player under 25 who has not completed six years of service time in a foreign major league is subject to MLB’s international amateur signing bonuses, which set a hard cap and initially limit him to a minor league contract.
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