Roki Sasaki’s history! Perfect game, WBC, 165km/h, the Monster of the Reiwa Era

This article summarizes the past episodes of Roki Sasaki.

I’m writing this in a way that’s just my hobby, but it’s content that you can enjoy reading along.

Profile of Roki Sasaki (佐々木 朗希)

The basic information about pitcher Roki Sasaki is as follows.

Roki Sasaki before turning professional

Roki Sasaki is a pitcher who has been the talk of the town for his extraordinary ball speed even before he turned professional.

Measured 141km/h in his third year of junior high school (2016)

He joined his junior high school’s baseball club and wore the ace number from his second year onwards, but due to a stress fracture in his lower back, he was unable to participate in the final tournament in his third year.

In the fall of his third year of junior high school, he will participate in the local all-Kesen team, with his sights set on what he will do after entering high school.

He won the Iwate tournament, was runner-up at the Tohoku tournament, and will participate in the national tournament.

He recorded his personal fastest speed of 141km/h during the tournament.

Measured 147km/h in first year of high school (2017)

When he entered high school, he received offers from prestigious schools within and outside the prefecture, but he decided to attend Iwate Prefectural Ofunato High School because he wanted to compete in Koshien in his hometown.

He made his official debut at the prefectural tournament in the summer of his first year and measured 147km/h.

The team was eliminated in the third round.

Measured 157km/h in second year of high school [fastest in history as a second year high school student] (2018)

At the prefectural tournament in the summer of my second year, I measured 154km/h in the first race.

However, the team lost in the third round, where Sasaki did not pitch.

Then, at a competition in the fall of his second year, he measured a speed of 157 km/h, the fastest time in the history of high school sophomores.

Measured 160 km/h in third year of high school [Tie for fastest high school student history] (2019)

In the summer of his third year, he will compete in the tournament as the No.4 batter and ace.

From around this time, he began to be called the Monster of the Reiwa Era (令和の怪物), and along with Yasunobu Okugawa (奥川 恭伸), Junya Nishi (西 純矢), and Masaki Oyokawa (及川 雅貴), he became known as the BIG 4 in high school.

Pitching results since the fourth round in Sasaki’s last summer are as follows.

• 4th round vs. Morioka 4, 12 innings, 2 runs allowed (160km/h tied for fastest high school student)
• Quarter-finals vs. Kuji, No pitching, team wins
• Semi-finals vs. Ichinoseki Tech, 9th inning shutout victory
• Final vs. Hanamaki Higashi, No pitching, team loses

After the summer tournament, he was selected for the U-18 Japan National Team, but because of a blister on his right middle finger, he only pitched in one inning against South Korea.

Joined Chiba Lotte after receiving the first pick from four teams

In the 2019 draft, Nippon-Ham, Lotte, Rakuten, and Seibu selected him in first place, and as a result of a lottery, Lotte acquired the negotiation rights.

Sasaki has announced that 12 teams are OK, so he joined Lotte.

He decided on the jersey number 17 because he wanted him to record a speed of 170km/h.

Lotte Roki Sasaki, first year professional (2020)

Video with bullpen has been viewed 1 million times

Sasaki, who is in his first year as a pro, never pitched in an official game in either the first or second team.

He stayed with the first team almost all year without registering as a player, and spent the year trying to strengthen his body.

By the way, the video of Sasaki entering the bullpen for the first time reached 1 million in just one week It became so popular that it was played many times

Lotte Roki Sasaki, second year professional (2021)

First professional win in his second start

In his first professional start against Seibu at ZOZO Marine Stadium, he did not win or lose, but he gave up 4 runs in 5 innings and showed glimpses of the Monster of the Reiwa Era.

Then, in his second pitching game against Hanshin (@Koshien), he pitched 5 innings and gave up 4 runs (3 earned runs), earning his first win as a professional!

He had a 2.27 ERA in the season, and a 1.22 ERA in six pitches in the second half.

Started pitching in the first game of the CS first stage and pitched well, allowing 1 run in 6 innings

The team will take second place in the 2021 season and advance to the Climax Series (Called CS, CS is Japan’s postseason).

Sasaki pitched in Game 1 of the CS First Stage and contributed to the team’s walk-off victory by allowing only 1 run and 10 strikeouts in the 6th inning.

Lotte Roki Sasaki, third year professional (2022)

Measured 164km/h in his first start of the season

In his first game of the season against Rakuten, he measured a speed of 164km/h, breaking his personal fastest speed.

Also from this first game,

• First pitch against Rakuten: 6 innings, 3 runs allowed, 10 strikeouts every inning
• 2nd pitching against Seibu: 8 innings, 1 run allowed, 13 strikeouts every inning

He had a strikeout in every inning for two consecutive games.

Achieved a perfect game!

In his third pitch of the season, against Orix on April 10th, Sasaki became the 16th player in history to pitch a perfect game! !

Moreover, it wasn’t just a perfect game; he also set many firsts in history, including the strikeout record and the youngest record.

• 13 consecutive strikeouts (longest in NPB)
• 19 strikeouts in one game (tied for most in NPB)
• Perfect game with strikeouts every inning (first in history)
• In his 14th game in total (fastest in history)
• Perfect game at 20 years and 5 months old (youngest in history)
• First perfect game win after becoming a pro, first complete game (first in history)
• First perfect game of the 21st century
• First perfect game of Reiwa era
• The first perfect game in the Heisei era
• The first perfect game born in the 21st century

I happened to be checking Twitter that day, and I noticed that perfect game was trending, and the perfect game was already continuing at the end of the 8th inning.

I still remember rushing to open DAZN and watching the live stream with wide eyes. (DAZN is a popular sports VOD in Japan)

Recorded 17 consecutive innings without a hit and 52 consecutive outs

After completing a perfect game,

• vs. Nippon Ham, Perfect pitching over 8 innings
• vs. Orix, first hit by Fukuda in the 1st inning

As a result, he set a new professional baseball record with 17 consecutive innings without a hit and 52 consecutive outs.

In March and April, he was named monthly MVP with 5 pitches, 3 wins, 0 losses, ERA 1.50, and 60 strikeouts.

Lotte Roki Sasaki, fourth year professional (2023)

Contributed to Japan’s WBC victory as one of the starting four pillars

He formed the starting four along with Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平), Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ 有), and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (山本 由伸), and pitched in the first round (against the Czech Republic) and the semi-finals (against Mexico), leading Japan to victory.

In the game against the Czech Republic, he conceded one run due to an error by my teammate, but he was the winning pitcher with zero earned runs.

Also, in the game against Mexico, Urias gave up a 3-run lead in the 4th inning and he was forced to leave the game, but the team later came from behind to win the game with a walk-off.

Since the game against Mexico was Sasaki’s debut game in the United States, it became a hot topic that 64 people from the major leagues were in attendance at the stadium.

Measured 165km/h, tied for the fastest Japanese player

On April 28, 2023, during a match against Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka, he recorded the fastest Japanese speed of 165 km in an official match for the first time.

Roki Sasaki summary

In this article, I introduced the legendary episodes of Roki Sasaki from before he turned professional until now.

I look forward to Pitcher Sasaki’s success so that he can continue to add more episodes to this article.