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Roki Sasaki (Photo by Yuki Taguchi/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
No two players are exactly alike. At the same time, the similarities between Roki Sasaki and Shohei Ohtani as pitchers at the same age are striking.
Ohtani was 23 years old when he moved from Japan to MLB. His fastball sat 96-98 mph and touched 102, his splitter was a vicious, swing-and-miss weapon that made hitters look foolish, his slider flashed plus and he threw everything for strikes, although his command could be inconsistent. He had durability concerns after he missed most of the previous season with an ankle injury and a physical revealed a damaged UCL, but he had the physical frame to get bigger and stronger and improve his endurance over time.
Sasaki is also 23 years old as he prepares to come over from Japan to MLB. His fastball sits 96-100 mph and touches 102, his splitter is a devastating pitch widely considered the best in the world, his slider has improved to be a potentially plus pitch and he has above-average control, though his command can be a tad inconsistent. He faces durability concerns after missing time with a torn left oblique in 2023 and shoulder fatigue last season, but he still has room in his athletic, projectable frame to get bigger and stronger and improve his endurance with age.
Ohtani, of course, had an entirely different dynamic as a two-way player who hit simultaneously. Still, given their similarities as pitchers at the same juncture of their careers—from their arsenals to their physiques to their areas for improvement—Ohtani’s career arc as a pitcher in the majors represents a compelling comparison point for Sasaki. Now, they will be teammates after Sasaki announced on Instagram he was signing with the Dodgers.
“He’s a very similar deal to Ohtani,” an American League international scouting director said. “Top-level impact quality. Quantity is a question.”
Ohtani flashed his dominance on the mound as a rookie in 2018 before suffering an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery and forced him not to pitch in 2019. He then made only two starts during the shortened 2020 season due to a flexor strain. In his first three seasons in the majors, he made only 12 starts and threw just 53 1/3 innings.
But once Ohtani hit his physical prime at age 26, he got bigger and stronger, improved his pitches and stayed healthy enough on the mound to show he was one of…