With more than 30 years following baseball’s brightest youngsters, few are better at analyzing talent than Jim Callis. The MLB insider and senior writer has been a longtime expert at pointing out the best and worst aspects of top talent. During a recent Exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, he opened up on various topics, one of which was Japanese star Roki Sasaki.
Japanese pitchers have dominated headlines in recent weeks with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga signing MLB deals. But Roki Sasaki is seemingly on a different level. Amidst posting rumors, Jim Callis spoke about the young pitcher.
Roki Sasaki is destined for greatness, per Jim Callis
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Top MLB insider Jim Callis spoke on some of MLB’s top prospects during his Exclusive EssentiallySports interview. This included his thoughts on 22-year-old Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki. He had positive words about the highly-scouted pitcher, who is rumored to make an MLB switch soon.
Callis’ words on Sasaki were, “It sounds like he wants to be posted next year. We were already talking about it. If he gets posted and comes over, he’s young enough that he’ll count towards the international bonus pool. So we will consider him a prospect. Like Yamamoto, who signed with the Dodgers, did not count toward the bonus pool, so don’t count him as a prospect. He’s not on our Dodgers list.”
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This would make him a true prospect. But following this statement, Callis also had high praise for Sasaki. He said, “Sasaki will count towards the bonus pool, and so I think he’s the best amateur, well he’s not an amateur. I think he’s the best pitcher in the world that’s not in the US Major Leagues.”
This is high praise from an expert who has seen some of MLB’s brightest players. But many have noticed Sasaki’s talents, with several teams interested in signing him. Later in the interview, Callis even said that the 22-year-old is better than Yoshinobu Yamamoto. This is a bold claim from the veteran analyst.
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With rumors surrounding him joining an MLB team as soon as the 2025 season, the hype will surely build. Roki Sasaki had some good outings during Japan’s championship run at the World Baseball Classic. Now, with his posting seemingly coming at the end of 2024, the stage is set. All that remains is for greatness to shine.
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