Shohei Ohtani is unlike any player in the modern-day MLB. Upon joining the Los Angeles Angels for the 2018 season, Ohtani immediately emerged as a threat at the plate and on the mound, winning AL Rookie of the Year honors before claiming MVP awards in 2021 and 2023. Upon suffering an elbow injury, Ohtani played exclusively as a designated hitter in 2024, his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers…and he proceeded to break new ground by becoming the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in one season.
Ohtani was rewarded for his efforts with a third MVP award and his maiden World Series win, and similar success is expected as the 30-year-old enters the second season of his 10-year pact with the Dodgers. Still, fans’ wandering gazes don’t have to search too far to find a player who could become “the next Ohtani” in the years to come.
America, meet Rintaro Sasaki
The Dodgers have made it a point to strengthen its bond with Japanese baseball in recent seasons. In addition to signing Ohtani to a $700 million contract last winter, LA signed star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year contract and landed fellow pitcher Roki Sasaki in an intense bidding war earlier this year. It would make plenty of sense if the Dodgers were keeping a close eye on another Sasaki as he makes his way through the collegiate game.
Rintaro Sasaki is only 19 years old, but the Stanford Cardinal phenom is already taking college baseball by storm in his freshman season. Standing six feet tall and weighing in at 275 pounds, Sasaki has been praised by Ohtani himself for the ferocity yet beauty of his left-handed swing, which generates tremendous power.
However, Sasaki has rejected favorable comparisons to Ohtani, owing to his youth and inexperience in a new country. But with three more years of hammering college pitching ahead of him, Sasaki could reach MLB poised for stardom at his current trajectory — maybe even as a Dodger, given Stanford is situated roughly an hour away from Los Angeles.
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