BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Marines make high school hurler Roki Sasaki top pick in NPB amateur draft

Pitcher Roki Sasaki is lifted up by his Ofunato High School classmates in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday after the Chiba Lotte Marines selected him as the No. 1 pick in the NPB amateur draft. All 12 NPB teams nominate their first choice in secret, and the player's negotiating rights are decided by drawing lots. | KYODO

Kyodo

Oct 17, 2019

The Chiba Lotte Marines took hard-throwing high school pitcher Roki Sasaki in NPB's amateur draft Thursday after four teams selected the teen talent who has been on the radar of major league clubs.

The 17-year-old Sasaki's fastball has been clocked in competition at 160 kph and as high as 163 kph in a national team tryout camp.

"He's an extraordinary pitcher," Marines manager Tadahito Iguchi said after drawing the winning lot. "It's scary to think how far he might go. He was the best player available and now it's incumbent on us to nurture his potential."

Marines make high school hurler Roki Sasaki top pick in NPB amateur draft

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