Ohtani Shohei is not the only Japanese superstar to embellish this World Baseball Classic (WBC). Sasaki Rocky is also attracting the attention of major league officials by showing off his speed equal to that of Ohtani.
Sasaki threw 21 fastballs over 바카라100 miles out of 66 balls in a match against the Czech Republic in the Group B league on the 12th. The highest speed was 101.9 miles (164 km), and the average was 100.1 miles.
In the case of Ohtani, in the quarterfinals against Italy on the 16th, he sprayed the ball for 102 miles (164.2 km), tied for first place among all pitchers in this tournament, but the average speed was only 98.6 miles. Colombian reliever Guillermo Zuniga of the St. Louis Cardinals once threw a 102-mph four-seam.
On the 21st, Sasaki will make his second appearance in the semifinal match against Mexico at Londipor Park in Miami, Florida. The limit of pitches is 95, so it is expected that he will be responsible for more than 5 innings. Ohtani, who has already thrown in the group stage and quarterfinals, is burning his motivation by volunteering to stand by the bullpen when advancing to the finals.
Attention is focusing on whether Sasaki will break Ohtani’s highest velocity of the tournament by raising the maximum velocity of the main sinker in the semifinals.
According to Statcast, which also covers the WBC, as of the 20th, pitchers who have recorded more than 100 mph in the WBC are Ohtani, Sasaki, Zuniga, Dominican Republic Camilo Doval, Venezuela’s Carlos Hernandez and Jose Alvarado, England’s Michael Peterson, and Puerto Rico’s Edwin Diaz. 8 people, etc. Among them, only two starting pitchers are Ohtani and Sasaki. so it stands out more.
On the 20th, MLB.com published an article focusing on Sasaki’s redemption.
Reporter David Adler, who wrote the article, said, “All baseball fans should know the name Sasaki.” “The 21-year-old from Japan has established himself as the most powerful pitcher in NPB. He introduced that he has a talent that comes once in a generation as much as Ohtani’s level.
At the same time, Japanese coach Hideki Kuriyama said of Sasaki, who had a good fight against the Czech Republic, “It is difficult to explain Sasaki. When I think about it, he seems to throw his soul, not a baseball.”
Reporter Adler picks Munetaka Murakami (Yakult Swallows), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes) and Sasaki as the three current NPB stars, and posted a video of him throwing a fastball of 102.5 mph in an evaluation match against Chunichi Dragons just before this tournament. I did too.
He said, “Sasaki’s fastball average velocity last year was 98.4 miles, the fastest in the NPB.” He said, “Compared to major league starting pitchers, it ranks second, but the first place is Cincinnati Reds Hunter Green at 98.9 miles.”
Sasaki’s fastball had already been known since high school. According to Adler, Japanese high school baseball radio commentator Hisatoshi Kato said when Sasaki participated in the 2019 Iwate Prefectural Tournament when she was a sophomore, “Ohtani was not at this level (Sasaki) in this tournament. Through this tournament, Kikuchi 10 years ago Yusei came along, and Ohtani came a few years later. Now people will notice this player who is much better than both of them.”
Ohtani is also from Iwate Prefecture, so Sasaki is his hometown junior. Ohtani recorded a maximum of 165 km during his Nippon Ham days, and 101.4 miles (163.2 km) is the highest speed on the major league mound. Sasaki’s NPB top speed is 164 km.