Rintaro Sasaki, the top-ranked high school baseball player in Japan, has signed a National Letter of Intent with Stanford University and will join the Cardinal program for the 2025 season.
The power-hitting first baseman is set to graduate from Hanamaki-Higashi High in March and will enroll at Stanford for the spring quarter in April.
“We are excited to welcome Rintaro into our Stanford family,” Cardinal head coach David Esquer said following Sasaki’s signing. “He may be the most high-profile international prospect to play college baseball in the United States in a long time. 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.”
Sasaki hit a Japanese high school record 140 home runs, and was projected to be selected first overall in the Nippon Professional Baseball Draft, but forewent the draft to attend Stanford.
According to scouts, in addition to boasting elite raw power, Sasaki has also shown an advanced approach at the plate — walking twice as many times as he struck out. Training under his father, Hiroshi Sasaki, Sasaki posted an impressive slash line of .413/.514/.808 during his high school career.
Shohei Ohtani also starred for Hanamaki-Higashi (while being coached by the elder Sasaki) before signing with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.
Helping to blaze a trail for Japanese high school players looking to play in the United States, Sasaki chose to attend Stanford, which has made three consecutive trips to the College World Series, for the quality of education and to take steps toward achieving his dream of playing in Major League Baseball.
