{"id":8642,"date":"2024-10-07T03:47:54","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T03:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=8642"},"modified":"2024-10-07T03:47:54","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T03:47:54","slug":"red-sox-rumors-boston-scouting-top-japanese-starter-despite-fa-longshot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=8642","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Rumors: Boston scouting top Japanese starter despite FA longshot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mar<\/p>\n

The Boston Red Sox failed in their pursuit of Nippon Professional Baseball ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto last offseason. The Dodgers swiped him up \u2014 as they tend to do when it comes to Red Sox free agent targets \u2014 and signed him to a 12-year, $325 million deal in December.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

American baseball fans\u00a0may have already had a look at Sasaki.\u00a0He was part of Japan’s 2023 World Baseball Classic-winning team, alongside Yamamoto, Ohtani and\u00a0the Red Sox’s own Masataka Yoshida.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 according to Codify Baseball, they’re the\u00a0two fastest pitchers in NPB history.\u00a0Again, Sasaki is just 22 years old.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox have scouted Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki<\/h2>\n
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