Japan's Rintaro Sasaki Intends to Play NCAA Baseball; Won't Enter NPB Draft

Japanese high schooler Rintaro Sasaki has decided to forego the Nippon Professional Baseball draft and has instead declared his intention to play NCAA baseball in the United States, per ESPN's Kiley McDaniel.

Sasaki is the consensus top prospect among senior high schoolers in Japan. He was expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NPB draft before declaring his intention to play college baseball.

Sasaki, 6'0", 250-pounds, currently plays at Hanamaki-Higashi High School in Japan, which is the same high school Los Angeles Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani attended before signing with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

The 17-year-old, lauded for his power bat, has dominated at the high school level, slashing .413/.514/.808 with a Japanese high school record 140 home runs. He's also very poised, having walked twice as many times as he has struck out.

Sasaki's decision to play college baseball in the United States means he will bypass Major League Baseball's international amateur rules and will be eligible to be drafted.

Chicago White Sox prospect Rikuu Nishida made the same decision when he opted to play for Oregon instead of heading to the NPB. He was selected by Chicago in the 11th round of the 2023 draft.

While Sasaki hasn't yet committed to a university, he'll surely be among the top targets for many Division I schools.

Unlike many of America's top high school athletes considering universities based on name, image and likeness potential, Sasaki's international status will make it more difficult for him to land an NIL deal, so that may not have as large of an impact on his recruitment.

According to McDaniel, "industry chatter and a Japanese report have pegged Vanderbilt as an early leader." The Commodores churned out a number of major league players over the years, including Dansby Swanson, Mike Yastrzemski, David Price and Walker Buehler.

Sasaki is currently considered a third-round draft prospect, according to McDaniel, because there is uncertainty about "how good he would perform immediately against the best amateur pitchers in the U.S."