Japanese star Roki Sasaki signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he announced on Instagram. The 23-year-old right-hander with a sizzling fastball and deadly splitter joins Samurai Japan teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with the World Series champion Dodgers.

MLB teams have coveted Roki Sasaki since he broke Shohei Ohtani's Japanese high school record by reaching 101 mph with his fastball as a 17-year-old in 2019, part of a 194-pitch, 12-inning, 21-strikeout complete game in the national summer Koshien tournament.

There's not much question that while Major League Baseball remains the most prestigious and competitive league in the world, several other international professional leagues have closed the gap. In light of this,

Sasaki, nicknamed in Japan as "the Monster of the Reiwa Era," struck out 11 batters in 7 and ⅔ innings with a 3.52 ERA during the 2023 WBC. In Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he struck out 129 hitters in 111 regular-season innings for the Marines in the 2024 season.

clearing the path for the hard-throwing 23-year-old to transfer from Nippon Professional Baseball to MLB. Sasaki will be subject to international amateur free-agent restrictions, making him ...

At his age and talent level, Sasaki folds in perfectly for a Dodgers club that was already planning on running a six-man rotation.

Shohei Ohtani reportedly played a large role in starting pitcher Rōki Sasaki signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani was part of a contingent of

The night before Roki Sasaki was to be introduced at Dodger Stadium, the Japanese pitcher met LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and others at his first Lakers game.

The splitter is on the rise in Major League Baseball, and the Dodgers are cornering the market. Splitters were thrown more often in 2024 than in any other season of the pitch tracking era, which goes back to 2008.

The prized righty pitcher was one of the most sought-after international free agents in recent memory and picked the Dodgers over a considerable list of other suitors.

Roki Sasaki, the young Japanese pitching sensation, joins MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers and delivers a clear message to LA fans during the Lakers vs. Washington Wizards NBA game.

The Dodgers cemented their status as the preferred MLB destination for NPB stars and transformed their rotation into a Mount Rushmore of Japanese pitching luminaries by winning the Rōki Sasaki sweepstakes.