Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) monster pitcher “Perfect Man” Sasaki Roki (22, Chiba Lotte Marines) set the record for the most strikeouts in an individual season with a 165km/h light-speed ball.
Sasaki took the mound as a starting pitcher in a game against 메이저놀이터the Orix Buffaloes held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 12th and became the winning pitcher with 3 hits, 14 strikeouts and 1 run in 7 innings. Sasaki, who recorded his 7th win of the season, tied for 2nd place in most wins in the Pacific League following Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8 wins, Orix). His earned run average dropped from 1.50 to 1.48 and he recorded 121 strikeouts for the season, leading the league in earned run average and strikeouts.
Sasaki hesitated a bit in the first episode. After he got two outs, he allowed a hit to Kotaro Kurebayashi to go on base and was hit with a double by Cedeño, giving up the go-ahead run. In the 2nd and 2nd base, Sasaki induced a ground ball and did not give up an extra point.
After that, Sasaki wiped out the innings in a panic. Allowing one hit in the second inning was the last hit of the day, and he deleted the inning with three strikeouts. He caught two or more strikeouts in five consecutive innings with two strikeouts in the third inning, three strikeouts in the fourth, two in the fifth, and two in the sixth.
Sasaki, who finished the 7th inning with a foul fly and two ground balls, came off the mound with a total of 104 pitches. The Chiba Lotte bullpen gave up 2 runs in the 8th inning, but kept the 5 points they had earned at the beginning of the game and won 5-3.
Out of 45 fastballs thrown by Sasaki that day, 29 were fast enough to record over 160km/h. He twice recorded his personal best speed of 165 km / h in the 4th and 5th innings.
Sasaki, who recorded 14 strikeouts, the most in a game this season, recorded double-digit strikeouts in 8 out of 12 appearances. This is the second record in the club’s history, following Hideki Irabu (12) in 1994 and 1995. At Sasaki’s current pace, it seems that he will be able to break the club’s highest record.
On May 5, Sasaki came down the mound while striking out 12 runs in 5 innings against the Softbank Hawks. He threw 89 pitches and he was able to get on the mound well enough for the sixth inning, but was replaced early due to a finger blister. Despite having a hiatus of about three weeks after that, he is tied for second in the Pacific League in terms of earned run average and strikeouts, and most wins. At the current pace, if he beats only his rival Yamamoto in the multi-win division by one win, his first triple crown in his debut is worth aiming for.