Twenty-year-old perfect-game pitcher Roki Sasaki has been penciled in to start on Friday (May 6) against the SoftBank Hawks at Chiba Marine Stadium, the team revealed Monday, according to Sponicihi Annex.
The right-hander, who has dazzled pundits and players alike by averaging close to 100 mph with his fastball and demonstrating elite-level command of a very nasty splitter, leads both leagues with 60 strikeouts.
Sasaki’s streak of 17 perfect innings was snapped on the first pitch of his April 24 start, was deactivated due to fatigue on April 25, although Lotte manager Tadahito Iguchi indicated the team had already planned to give him a break from the rotation at some point.
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