Sasaki Loki’s fastball best restraint once again set a new record. The high school record of 163 km/h is now commonplace. In the practice game on the 4th, he surpassed the previous record of 164 km and recorded his 165 km in front of Shohei Ohtani (Angels). He is a player who is increasingly curious about the future.
Sasaki started a practice game against Chunichi Dragons held at Vantelin Dome in Nagoya, Japan on the 4th and blocked 3 innings with 1 hit, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts and no runs. His only hit was an infield hit to third base in the first inning. You can guess Sasaki’s pitch from one fly ball and four ground balls (including double strikes).
The most impressive scene came in episode 1. Sasaki was driven to 1st and 3rd base with 2 outs in the 1st inning. He had an 11-pitch game with Dayan Viciedo on second out and third base, but the crisis continued as a walk came out. He met ‘former major leaguer’ Aristodis Aquino in the crisis of allowing the first run and showed the spirit of throwing 5 fastballs in a row. Here, the fourth fastball restraint was 165 km per hour.
165 km/h. It is the highest velocity by a Japanese pitcher recorded by Ohtani, who was a member of the Nippon Ham in 2016. It is also a new personal record for Sasaki, surpassing his previous record of 164 km. Although it is a record made while taking responsibility for short innings in a practice game, it is certainly surprising that such a speed has been released since the beginning of March.
The match ended in a 4-1 victory for Japan. However, the Japanese media is in an atmosphere that pays more attention to Sasaki’s new arrest record than the match result. When Sasaki was told that he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Ohtani, he replied, “I wasn’t conscious of it, but I liked the ball itself, so it was okay.” 바카라
Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Yudai Ono, who had a head-to-head match, sent a message of encouragement, saying, “Even in the major leagues, there are very few starting pitchers throwing 165 km/h.
Meanwhile, Sasaki is highly likely to start against the Czech Republic on the 11th. The Japanese press predicts the rotation in the following order: Ohtani against China on the 9th, Yu Darvish against Japan and Korea on the 10th (San Diego), Sasaki against the Czech Republic on the 11th, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix) against Australia on the 12th.