Roki Sasaki #42

Signed a Minor League contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent on Jan. 22, 2025 and received a $6.5 million bonus... upon signing, he was named the No. 1 prospect in baseball by MLB.com and Baseball America... prior to joining the Dodgers, he pitched in Japan in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Chiba Lotte Marines, making his debut in 2021... named after a character from the Japanese television series Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger… has two brothers named Ryuki and Reiki… nicknamed “The Monster of the Reiwa Era” while in high school, a nod to countryman and former Major League pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose nickname was “The Monster of the Heisei Era”… at age 9 as a third-grader at Takata Elementary School, lost his father and paternal grandparents to the 9.1 magnitude Great East Japan earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011… at the press conference announcing his signing with the Dodgers, held in the wake of the devastating fires in Los Angeles, said “I was also affected by disaster and suffered a lot, but I tried not to forget to keep looking forward”… presented infielder Miguel Rojas with three bottles of sake and a set of serving glasses as a thank you after Rojas offered him the No. 11 to wear ahead of the 2025 season... threw a perfect game in 2022... pitched for Japan at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, helping the Japanese claim a gold medal in a win over the U.S.

2024

Posted a 10-5 record with a 2.35 ERA (29 ER/111.0 IP) in 18 starts…struck out 129 batters against 32 walks with a 1.036 WHIP.

2023

Went 7-4 with a 1.78 ERA (18 ER/91.0 IP) in 15 starts with 135 strikeouts against 17 walks...Was a part of Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, going 1-0 in two starts with a 3.52 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings.

2022

Finished his first All-Star season by going 9-4 with a 2.02 ERA (29 ER/129.1 IP) in 20 games, with two complete games (one shutout) and 173 strikeouts against only 23 walks...Pitched a perfect game on April 10, becoming the 16th pitcher in NPB history to do so and the first player since Hiromi Makihara (1994)… he struck out 19 batters in the game, including 13 in a row to set a record for consecutive strikeouts in a game...He finished his historic two starts in April with 17 perfect innings and 33 strikeouts as he went on to set career highs in innings pitched (129.1), strikeouts (173) and walks per nine innings (1.6).

2021

Was selected by the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) League in 2019, but did not appear until 2021...Made his NPB debut on May 16 and finished the season 3-2 with a 2.27 ERA (16 ER/63.1 IP) in 11 games with 68 strikeouts against 16 walks.