MIAMI (AP) — Rintaro Sasaki was ready to turn his long-awaited dream into a reality.
The Japanese slugger had a choice to make. He could return to Stanford, where he played college baseball for two seasons. He could pursue a pro career in his home country, where was selected last October by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the first round of the Nippon Professional Baseball draft.
Or, he could sign with Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins, who selected him in the eighth round of the amateur draft earlier this month.
It wasn’t an easy decision for Sasaki, but it was ultimately a befitting one.
“My dream is always going to be how I’m going to make it to big the leagues as soon as possible,” Sasaki said Thursday, wearing a Marlins jersey. “That’s a big reason for choosing Miami. It’s giving me a great opportunity.”
The Marlins introduced Sasaki on Thursday after he announced earlier this week that he would forgo a pro career in Japan to sign with Miami. Sasaki’s deal with the Marlins is for $210,200.
“I don’t know what the result will be,” Sasaki said in Japanese, “and of course I’m aiming for the major stage, and I’m thinking about getting up there. I’ve chosen this path, so I’m going to do my best to do what I can do, and to do everything I can to get better.”
Sasaki made the surprising jump from playing high school ball in Japan to attending an American college, forgoing Japan’s professional pipeline to potentially accelerate his path toward the majors. He played under Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani’s father, Toru, and is Japan’s all-time high school home run leader with 140.
The 21-year-old first baseman played two seasons at Stanford, hitting .262 with 16 homers and 47 RBIs as a sophomore last year.
“I went back and forth on this decision until the very end,” Sasaki said earlier this week. “Ever since I chose to attend Stanford, I have always had a strong desire to challenge myself in the United States. In the end, that desire won out. I felt that I wanted to see how far I could go by challenging myself in America, and that feeling became stronger than anything else.”
He added that he hopes his time at Stanford — learning English, getting used to the hustle-and-bustle of college life — will help him acclimate to his new team and city.
He only learned to speak English a few years ago. He’s still getting comfortable with the language, but he has his eyes on another.
“English first, he said, ”and then coming to Spanish at the same time.”
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