Red Sox Predicted to Make ‘Very Serious’ Bid For 102-mph Fireballer Roki Sasaki

Red Sox Predicted to Make ‘Very Serious’ Bid For 102-mph Fireballer Roki Sasaki

Getty

Roki Sasaki

Even after acquiring the top-of-the-rotation ace they have been missing since Chris Sale was shut down with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery after the 2019 season, the Boston Red Sox have made no secret of the fact that upgrading their pitching staff remains the team’s top offseason priority.

Boston on December 11 traded four highly regarded minor leaguers, including their fourth-ranked overal prospect catcher Kyle Teel, for Chicago White Sox lefty power-pitcher Garrett Crochet. They expect that the 25-year-old who struck out 12.9 batters for every nine innings pitched last year will anchor their rotation and take some pressure off Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and the other Red Sox starters.

In 2024 the Red Sox starting staff ranked a respectable seventh in the Major Baseball when it came to ERA, posting a 3.81 figure that was actually good enough for fourth in the American League. But the Boston starters had quite a bit of trouble simply staying in the game. With 839 2/3 innings pitched, the Red Sox rotation placed a mediocre 16th in baseball for durability — an average of barely over five innings per outing.

Red Sox Need to Do Better With Starting Staff

In other words, the Red Sox need more and better starters, over and above Crochet. On December 10, a starter became available who immediately leaped to the top of the “most sought-after” list for the Red Sox, as well as the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and several other franchises — even though he has never thrown an inning, or even a pitch in the Major Leagues.

That pitcher is 23-year-old Japanese fireballer Roki Sasaki, who pitched the last four seasons — the first four of his professional career — for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League. In his four-year career at the top level of Japan’s pro baseball circuit, Sasaki has put together an ERA of 2.41 and a stunningly low WHIP of 0.833. His fastball has been clocked as high as 102 mph.

Sasaki’s Japanese team “posted” him on December 10, meaning that MLB teams had 45 days from that date to lure the young star and sign him to a contract.

While Sasaki has been termed a “dream target” for the Yankees, and the Dodgers are widely seen as favorites to land him due to the West Coast’s relative proximity to his home country of Japan, the Red Sox are now seen as “very serious” suitors for the international phenom hurler, according to MLB.com.

Boston’s ‘Impressive’ Pitching Development a Selling Point

“(The Red Sox’) main selling point might be the history of Japanese pitchers having success and positive experiences playing in Boston: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa,” wrote MLB.com columnist Jonathan Mayo. “They have an impressive pitching development program and it certainly doesn’t hurt when the general manager, Craig Breslow, can speak directly to it (as opposed to just handing it off to ‘the experts’). Breslow also personally scouted Sasaki for one of his starts in Japan in September.”

Another factor that might work in the Red Sox favor is Sasaki’s reported preference to play in a smaller market, as stated by his agent Joel Wolfe. Though Boston is a team that often finds itself in the national spotlight, it has only the 11th largest market, in terms of population, in MLB according to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. Vankin is also the author of five nonfiction books on a variety of topics, as well as nine graphic novels including most recently “Last of the Gladiators” published by Dynamite Entertainment. More about Jonathan Vankin

More Heavy on Red Sox News

Loading more stories

Related Posts

🚨BREAKING NEWS: Red Sox, Aѕtroѕ bencheѕ cleаr аfter Hector Nerіѕ ѕcreаmѕ аt coаch іn а ѕhockіng аnd іntenѕe moment durіng the gаme; whаt exаctly ѕраrked the аltercаtіon аnd whаt wаѕ ѕаіd thаt led to the drаmаtіc confrontаtіon? Wаѕ іt а dіѕаgreement over а cаll or а рerѕonаl vendettа? The tenѕіon wаѕ раlраble аѕ рlаyerѕ аnd coаcheѕ from both teаmѕ ruѕhed onto the fіeld, reаdy to defend theіr teаmmаteѕ. Whаt hаррened?

Tempers flared momentarily after the seventh inning of the Red Sox win’ Saturday with benches — and the bullpens — both clearing.

🚨BREAKING NEWS: Red Sox fаnѕ аre FURIOUS wіth Crаіg Breѕlow, the teаm’ѕ executіve vіce рreѕіdent аnd chіef bаѕebаll offіcer, for gіvіng uр toр рroѕрect іn the recent Steven Mаtz trаde! Mаny аre queѕtіonіng the move, wonderіng іf іt wаѕ worth ѕаcrіfіcіng ѕuch а tаlented young рlаyer for а ѕhort-term gаіn. The trаde hаѕ ѕраrked а heаted debаte аmong fаnѕ, wіth ѕome defendіng the decіѕіon аnd otherѕ cаllіng for Breѕlow’ѕ heаd. Whаt do you thіnk, wаѕ the trаde а ѕmаrt move or а huge mіѕtаke? 🤔

In their efforts to help the bullpen at the trade deadline, the Boston Red Sox acquired another left-handed reliever for the cost of a rising prospect.

🚨BREAKING NEWS: Alex Corа getѕ brutаlly honeѕt аbout Krіѕtіаn Cаmрbell’ѕ future wіth the teаm аfter Red Sox trаde deаdlіne, reveаlіng ѕhockіng detаіlѕ аbout the young рlаyer’ѕ рerformаnce аnd whаt іt meаnѕ for the teаm’ѕ chаnceѕ іn the рlаyoffѕ. Fіnd out whаt the mаnаger hаd to ѕаy аbout the hіghly аntіcіраted trаde аnd how іt wіll іmраct the Red Sox’ѕ roѕter movіng forwаrd! 🤯

It goes without saying that Kristian Campbell’s first two months as a Major Leaguer with the Boston Red Sox didn’t exactly go according to plan. Campbell’s bat

Boѕton Red Sox Anаlyѕіѕ: The teаm hаѕ fіnаlly ѕurраѕѕed the .500 mаrk, а ѕіgnіfіcаnt mіleѕtone іn theіr ѕeаѕon, аnd іn doіng ѕo, they’ve overtаken theіr аrch-rіvаlѕ, the New York Yаnkeeѕ, wіth а thrіllіng vіctory over the Houѕton Aѕtroѕ! Thіѕ wіn not only booѕtѕ theіr confіdence but аlѕo ѕendѕ а ѕtrong meѕѕаge to the reѕt of the leаgue thаt they’re а force to be reckoned wіth. The Red Sox hаve been workіng tіreleѕѕly to іmрrove theіr gаme, аnd іt’ѕ раyіng off іn а bіg wаy. Wіth thіѕ wіn, they’re рrovіng thаt they hаve whаt іt tаkeѕ to be а toр contender іn the Amerіcаn Leаgue Eаѕt dіvіѕіon. 🔥⚾️

The Red Sox beat the Astros again on Saturday and vaulted themselves into second place in the AL East in the process.

Aaron Civale leads the White Sox staff in a one-hit gem for a series win

Chicago takes another from the Angels, in a 1-0 pitchers’ duel

Rookie catcher Edgar Quero earning all-around rave reviews from Sox

His offense has been a bonus, but it’s his work behind the plate that has seen the biggest improvement.