Teenage slugger Rintaro Sasaki to enroll at Stanford

Japanese teenage slugger Rintaro Sasaki will enroll at Stanford University in April before joining its baseball team for the 2025 season, the school announced Tuesday.

The 18-year-old, left-handed hitting first baseman will graduate in March from Iwate Prefecture’s Hanamaki Higashi High School. Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi were coached there by Sasaki’s father, Hiroshi.

The 184-centimeter, 113-kilogram Sasaki declared his desire to play college baseball in the United States in October and chose not to enter NPB’s draft.

On Wednesday, former New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui praised the youngster’s unique path to the elite academic institution south of San Francisco, which has also been a baseball powerhouse.

“I think he’s going to gain experience he can’t get in Japan, in both his studies and in baseball,” Matsui said at the Yomiuri Giants’ Miyazaki Prefecture spring training camp, where he’s serving as a special instructor.

“I wish him a good college life. Graduating there will be hard. That was the thing that stuck most in my mind.”

Japanese media touts Sasaki as the holder of the nation’s “career high school home run record,” although the 140 attributed to him includes homers hit in practice games.

Sasaki sought advice from Ohtani and Kikuchi before making up his mind.

America’s academic year begins in September, with the baseball season commencing in February.

“He may be the most high-profile international prospect to play college baseball in the United States in a long time,” David Esquer, the director of baseball at the school, said in a statement.