Rintaro Sasaki (20), a big shot prospect who went to Stanford University instead of the Nippon 토토사이트 Professional Baseball (NPB) rookie draft after breaking the Japanese high school baseball record, ranked first in the prospect rankings.

The U.S. baseball magazine "Baseball America" announced Tuesday the Top 25 college rookie players for 2025. In this ranking, Sasaki ranked first overall.

Sasaki, who is 183 centimeters tall (6 feet) and weighs 131 kilograms (289 pounds), has recorded 140 home runs in his Japanese high school career, breaking the previous record of 111 home runs in high school baseball held by Kotaro Kiyomiya (Nihonham Fighters).
Sasaki is a native of Hanamaki Higashi High School, which produced Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) and Yusei Kikuchi (LA Angels), and his father, Hiroshi Sasaki, is also a teacher of Kikuchi Ohtaniwa.

Sasaki, who graduated from high school last year, chose to study in the U.S. instead of going to the NPB draft, which was likely to be the first pick. After going to prestigious Stanford University, he hit 0.221 (19 hits in 86 at-bats) in 26 games in the MLB Draft League last summer, with four home runs and 17 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.391 (9 hits in 23 at-bats) in nine games and three home runs and eight RBIs in the Appalachian League.

"The power equivalent to 70 on the 20-80 scale is his strength, and he has excellent barrel hitting sense and contact ability," the BA said of Sasaki. "He boasts tremendous bat speed and pioneering eyes. His defensive position is limited to first baseman, but his offense complements that."

"BA" added, "Sasaki is expected to play a central hitter in Stanford's lineup this spring, and is being mentioned as a rookie candidate for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of the year."

Meanwhile, according to Japanese media such as "Sankei Sports," Sasaki is reportedly considering the Major League Rookie Draft in the summer of 2026 and the NPB Draft in the fall of 2027.