Miami Marlins Picks Japan’s Rintaro Sasaki in MLB Draft

Philadelphia, July 12 (Jiji Press)–The Miami Marlins picked Japanese infielder Rintaro Sasaki, who plays for Stanford University in California, in the eighth round of this year’s draft of U.S. Major League Baseball on Sunday. He was chosen 235th overall at the draft conference in Philadelphia. Sasaki was selected as the first-round pick by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the draft of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, or NPB, last autumn. Attention is now focused on the 21-year-old’s decision–whether he will join the Hawks, a team in Japan’s Pacific League, or the Marlins, a National League team, or continue playing for Stanford University. Earlier this month, Sasaki met with senior Hawks officials and visited the team’s facilities. “I have to make a decision with my responsibility, also by taking the MLB’s evaluation of me into consideration,” he said. At the three-hour meeting, the Hawks officials enthusiastically solicited Sasaki to the team. The Hawks side explained to Sasaki how well he will be able to play in the NPB, using data compiled based on information from Stanford University, such as his strengths and challenges as well as his hitting and swing speeds, according to informed sources. A focal point will be whether the team will positively consider allowing him to move to MLB at an early time in the future using the posting system. Seeing no advantage other than receiving posting fees, the Hawks have never allowed the team’s players to move to MLB under the posting system. The deadline for negotiations with the Marlins is set at 5 p.m. July 27 Eastern Standard Time, and that for negotiations with SoftBank at the end of July. Sasaki, a native of the city of Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, began playing baseball in the first grade of elementary school. He played for Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate, which was also attended by Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. A power hitter, Sasaki slugged 140 home runs in his high school career. He played for Stanford University in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Sasaki, who is 184 centimeters tall and weighs 122 kilograms, bats left-handed and throws right-handed. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]