Red Sox Rumors: Boston scouting top Japanese starter despite FA longshot

The Boston Red Sox failed in their pursuit of Nippon Professional Baseball ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto last offseason. The Dodgers swiped him up — as they tend to do when it comes to Red Sox free agent targets — and signed him to a 12-year, $325 million deal in December.

But the Sox haven't been deterred from scouting other Japanese phenoms. Reporter Francys Romero broke the news that Boston is among a few other clubs that sent scouts to observe Roki Sasaki, a 22-year-old ace for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

American baseball fans may have already had a look at Sasaki. He was part of Japan's 2023 World Baseball Classic-winning team, alongside Yamamoto, Ohtani and the Red Sox's own Masataka Yoshida.

Sasaki has posted a 2.10 ERA over his four seasons in NPB. The young righty has collected an astounding 505 strikeouts in 394.2 innings of work since he debuted at 19. He boasts triple-digit fastball velocity that rivals that of Ohtani — according to Codify Baseball, they're the two fastest pitchers in NPB history. Again, Sasaki is just 22 years old.

The Red Sox have scouted Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki

Sasaki's market will likely look a lot like Yamamoto's whenever the Marines post him. The Red Sox will compete with the Mets, Dodgers and other big-market clubs to pull Sasaki to their squad.

The young pitching phenom does have some durability questions, though. His career-high 129.1 innings pitched in the 2022 season is far below the standard number expected out of aces in NPB. Sasaki missed much of the second half of his 2024 season with an oblique issue, which limited him to 111.1 innings pitched this year.

It still isn't certain that the Marines will post Sasaki this year and teams may have to wait another season before the prodigy comes to the major leagues. Based on Romero's report, the Red Sox could be frontrunners for his services after his posting date.

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