Correspondent Lee Dae-ho = Rocky Sasaki (22, Chiba Lotte Marines), a fastball pitcher with a ‘top speed of 164 km’ boasted by the Japanese baseball team, showed off his best condition in his first actual appearance this year.
Japanese media such as Sports Hochi reported that Sasaki threw up to 160 km per hour in a practice match between Chiba Lotte and Yakult Swallows held in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on the 15th.
The opponent Sasaki threw a 160 km/h fastball was Munetaka Murakami, a fellow member of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team and the fourth hitter of Yakult, who hit the most home runs (56) in Japan last season.
Sports Hochi reported, “In the ball count, 1 ball and 2 strikes, Murakami struck out with a miss swing to Sasaki’s 160 km/h fastball inside.”
On this day, Sasaki threw a total of 29 pitches, overwhelming the Yakult lineup with 2 innings, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts and no runs.
Sasaki, selected from the Japan WBC national team, is the next-generation ace that Japanese professional baseball is paying attention to.
In April of last year, he became the protagonist of the youngest perfect game (20 years, 5 months) in Japanese professional baseball with 9 innings, 19 strikeouts, and no runs against the Orix Buffaloes.
Sasaki is mentioned as one of the candidates to pitch in the first round of the WBC finals, which will be held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on March 10th. 온라인바카라
Sasaki, who threw a forkball for left-handed batters and a slider for right-handed batters, said, “It was good that the ball (160 km/h) went to a good course at the end. It’s a practice game, but I didn’t want to hit a home run.”