Rintaro Sasaki has made a huge decision on his future after he announced Tuesday he will be studying abroad in the United States to play college baseball.
This means, he will forgo the Nippon Professional Baseball draft.
According to the Yakyu Cosmopolitan, the first baseman hasn’t decided specifically on which college he will attend, but reportedly, powerhouse baseball school Vanderbilt University is a high possibility.
Rintaro Sasaki: “At this point, I’ve decided on studying abroad in the United States in order to get to the next level in my baseball career.”
He has not decided what college he will attend but he is reportedly eyeing Vanderbilt University. pic.twitter.com/YpffJdDNfK
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) October 10, 2023
The top high school prospect stands in at 6’0″, 250-pounds and is said to be the next big Japanese-born player.
When you see his numbers, you’ll understand why.
He’s slashing .413/.514/.808 with a 1.322 OPS and his scouting report has his power at a 75 scale.
Sasaki admits his approach at the plate is one of his weapons and that has a lot to do with his speedy swing.
He’s obviously young and has parts of his game he needs to improve on, but if Vandy is in his future — he looks to head into a program that’ll shape him into a very successful ball player.
The names of David Price, Sonny Gray, Tony Kemp, Dansby Swanson, Walker Buehler and Kumar Rocker — to name a few, have all come out of the school and made a name for themselves in Major League Baseball.
Head coach Tim Corbin began his career at Vanderbilt by discovering undervalued talent, and the rest was history. It’s now a full-on baseball brand there.
Sasaki hit 138 home runs during his high school career and his father, Hiroshi, is his coach at Hanamaki-Higashi High School — the same team that two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani played for.
It’ll be interesting to see how his future plays out.
[Baseball America]
[screengrab, YouTube: Yakyu Cosmopolitan]
