Japanese Baseball Phenom Rintaro Sasaki Skipping Pro League to Play for Stanford

The first baseman hit a record number of home runs for Shohei Ohtani's old high school.

Japan's best baseball players coming over to the United States to ply their trade is fairly common—ask Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter/pitcher Shohei Ohtani, future Hall of Fame right fielder Ichiro Suzuki or any of the multitude of Japanese players who’ve found American success in recent decades.

Relatively uncommon is the phenomenon of Japanese high school baseball prospects coming over to the United States to play collegiately.

On Tuesday, first baseman Rintaro Sasaki made headlines by announcing his commitment to play for Stanford beginning in the 2025 season rather than enter Nippon Professional Baseball's draft.

Coach Doug Esquer and Stanford baseball landed a commitment from Japanese star Rintaro Sasaki :: Steven Branscombe/USA TODAY Sports

Sasaki's 140 career high school home runs for Hanamaki-Higashi High School—Ohtani's old team—are a Japanese record. He slashed an astounding .413/.514/.808 in his tenure there.

"He may be the most high-profile international prospect to play college baseball in the United States in a long time," Cardinal coach David Esquer said in a release. “His power bat plays right into our style of play, and we look forward to him contributing immediately to help us achieve our goals of competing for and winning national titles.”