Roki Sasaki reveals Shohei Ohtani's 'very grateful' role in Dodgers' $6,500,000 signing

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers officially signed Roki Sasaki and introduced the young MLB star to the fans in a media conference. During the conference, Sasaki faced multiple questions about his MLB draft, including Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani's role in getting Sasaki signed. It has been a viral question among fans, and Sasaki went ahead shedding light on the same.

What did Roki Sasaki say about Shohei Ohtani's role in his MLB draft?

After evaluating multiple teams and offers, Roki Sasaki picked the Los Angeles Dodgers as his MLB Draft team. Sasaki's signing has been special because he'll now be sharing the field with MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani. During the media conference on Wednesday, Sasaki talked about Ohtani's role in his Dodgers signing.

The presence of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto definitely favored Roki Sasaki's decision to choose the Dodgers. However, their role wasn't as big as many fans might suspect. In fact, Sasaki claimed that his decision calculus didn't use the presence of another Japanese player as a major factor.

"Being able to play with Ohtani & Yamamoto... I hope to be able to stand side-by-side with them," Sasaki said.


Roki Sasaki further reveals how he’s hoping to perform excellent enough to be worthy of standing alongside Dodgers superstars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani. Before talking about Ohtani, Sasaki explained that it was the team's stable front office that primarily influenced his decision.

"The number one thing that stood out [about the Dodgers] was the stability of the front office," Sasaki expressed.


Roki Sasaki would be switching countries, teams, and leagues. Considering that he's going through major switches like these, it's obvious for him to expect stability. And Sasaki has found that stability with the Dodgers.

Talking about his Dodgers signing, Roki Sasaki will be wearing the No. 11 jersey. Sasaki previously wore the no. 17 jersey in NPB and the no. 14 jersey during international games. However, since both these numbers weren't available, Sasaki went with no. 11, which Miguel Rojas switched with him. Sasaki expressed being "grateful" for Rojas' gesture.


Critics not just compare Roki Sasaki with Shohei Ohtani but also Paul Skenes. MLB Analyst Tom Verducci recently claimed that Sasaki wasn't a "finished product." But despite that, his abilities and skill sets are just as good as Paul Skenes. Comparing the two, Verducci said:

"If we put Roki [Sasaki] in a draft, he'd be a one-one. He's kind of like a Paul Skenes, he's not a finished product coming out, but pure stuff-wise, it's off the charts. If you look at the top pitching staffs of all time, I had to look this up, a couple of Dodgers teams recently [have been there]. I think the Dodgers can push this number (.208 opponent batting average)."

Also Read: MLB analyst claims Roki Sasaki isn't a 'finished product' but as good as Paul Skenes