As part of my practice writing scouting reports and learning the language of scouting, I simply had to cover 100-mph pitcher Roki Sasaki, who was named by four NPB teams as their top draft pick in October.
(Current ability – future projection)
- Fastball 80 – 80
- Command 50 – 60
- Slider 40 – 50
- Splitter 40 – 50
- Curve 30 – 40
- Poise 50 – 60
- Baseball Instinct 50 – 50
- Aggressiveness 50 – 50
Arm Action: Fluid, smooth, Delivery: High 3/4
Physical Description
Looks like Charlie Morton (Rays). Loose, effortless delivery. Tests in H.S. revealed lower than normal bone density, suggesting he’s still growing, and coach took extra care for that reason.
High leg kick, repeatable delivery.
Weaknesses
Command of splitter and fastball is inconsistent. Poor depth on slider.
Strengths
Fastball rises with amazing arm-side run — particularly on right side of plate. Touches 100 mph. Knows how to pitch, can get batters to chase or tie them up on the hands.
Has tight spinning slider and another with more depth. The splitter drops straight down but showed poor command.
Summation
Has been clocked at 101.3 MPH. Plus makeup. Devoted to his family as “man of the house” since his father died when he was nine in the 2011 earthquake/tsunami.
Apparently wanted to play for Nippon Ham — the team that posted Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani, while neither of the two NPB teams that refuse to post players drafted him.
He WILL BE POSTED as early as 2025. In America, he’d be in an elite draft slot.
