“If you say it badly, you become arrogant. If you say it well…”

Rocky Sasaki of the Chiba Lotte Marines has grown into one of the pitchers representing Japanese professional baseball last year. From his high school days, Sasaki caught the eye of scouts by throwing fast balls that topped 160 km/h. However, after joining as a pro, he failed to show impressive performance, such as delaying his debut due to the strict management of the Chiba Lotte Marines.

But last year was different. Sasaki achieved the feat of a ‘perfect game’ against the Orix Buffaloes early last season. It was the youngest record, and the first among pitchers who had never completed a shutout or a complete pitch. And in the process of achieving a perfect game, he even wrote an unofficial world record of striking out 13 batters in a row.

Such an activity was no accident. Sasaki showed perfect pitching in the next game after achieving a perfect game. At the time, Sasaki was unable to achieve a perfect game in two consecutive games because he was not supported by other players, but he had an excellent record of 9 wins and 4 losses with an ERA of 2.02 in 20 games last year. As a result, he vomited his spirit to join the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team.

Sasaki left a huge impact on the world stage. Sasaki threw a fast ball of up to 165 km in the previous evaluation match at the WBC, tying with Shohei Ohtani’s (LA Angels) Japanese record for the highest speed, and in Group B group stage against the Czech Republic, 8 strikeouts and 1 run in 3⅔ innings (1 self-reproach).

Sasaki left a bit disappointing result with 3 runs (3 earned) in 4 innings in front of 64 scouts in the semifinals against Mexico, where a large number of active major leaguers were present, but he got a clear eye from Major League ‘Legends’ John Smoltz and Jake Peavy. took In particular, Phoebe poured out high praise, saying, “You will see Sasaki in the major leagues soon.”

According to Japan’s ‘Sankei Sports’, he took on the role of pitching coach for the Japanese WBC national team, and now coach Masato Yoshii, manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines, to which Sasaki belongs, said on the 28th (Korean time) that Sasaki, who returned after completing the WBC schedule, would be the same as before. said it has changed. The command tower gave a sharp blow (?), saying, “To put it badly, I became arrogant.”

He explained, “I think many values ​​have changed while experiencing world-class competitions,” and “I think it’s good to be a little arrogant to put it badly. In a good way, I’ve gained confidence.” Continuing, the command tower added, “Well, arrogant. All major leaguers are arrogant.” The ‘arrogant’ that director Yoshii said was never a bad meaning. It means that you are full of confidence. 바카라

Looking back at the match against Mexico where Sasaki pitched, Yoshii said, “I was prepared to give up three runs and put it on the mound. The Mexican batter who finished it did a good job. I was going to visit the mound, but it was fortunate that I disagreed with myself even if I didn’t.”

Sasaki, who returned to Chiba Lotte after completing the WBC schedule, plans to prepare for the mound in time for the home opener, not the regular season opener. Director Yoshii said, “Compared to the United States, (Japan) is humid, but today’s pitching was fine.” “he added.