This offseason, the LA Dodgers signed 23-year-old Japanese star Rōki Sasaki. His minor league contract included a 6.5 million dollar signing bonus, the highest bonus given to a single player during an international signing period since 2017. Hopes are high for the Dodgers prospect. He performed exceptionally well as Team Japan’s pitcher in the World Baseball Classic.

Rōki has two pitches, a hundred-mile-per-hour plus fastball, and the splitter which he mainly uses. The splitter is unique because, unlike most pitches, it becomes harder to hit with less spin. The average MLB spin rate for a splitter is 1300 rotations per minute. Rōki’s splitter routinely sits around 513 rotations. This makes his pitch almost twice as hard to hit as the average MLB fastball. Some reports say that hitters whiff at Sasaki’s splitter around 87% of the time.

Sasaki could fit into the Dodgers rotation with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty, and maybe Shohei Ohtani if the Dodgers put some strain on the MVP’s elbow. He will be a more than adequate replacement for Walker Buehler who signed a 1 year contract for 21 million dollars. Sasaki has already had his first start for the Dodgers in the Tokyo series against the Cubs. He made a few mistakes but pitched well overall. The Dodgers bullpen pulled in the win against the Cubs.

In Japan, Sasaki struck out almost 30% of the players he faced and was widely considered one of the best if not the best pitcher in Japanese baseball. It will be interesting to see how Sasaki reacts to America’s baseball culture.

The Dodgers are still a very well-respected team. Their front office spends billions on contracts for international stars and proven veterans, and the team has become the standard to which competitors are compared. The addition of Rōki Sasaki only improves the Dodger’s strong reputation.