MLB analyst points "Roki Sasaki is not as polished as Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto," but claims "ceiling is infinite" for coveted Japanese ace

Roki Sasaki is this offseason's big buzz, much like Shohei Ohtani was eight years ago and Yoshinobu Yamamoto was last year. However, a slight difference between the free agency of Yamamoto and Sasaki is that the latter is an international amateur free agent, which means teams can only sign him using their international pool money.

Sasaki made his NPB debut in 2021 and is a two-time All-Star. Several MLB scouts have noted the pitcher's potential, with some saying he could eventually become a rotation leader. Continuing on this front, MLB sportscaster, Jose Mota, on Sunday's episode of "Dodgers Dugout" podcast said:

"He’s quite special, but I’ll point out right away that he is not as polished as Shohei was or as Yamamoto was. One thing with him is, due to the recent injuries at a very young age, you have to be very careful with how you treat him.

"Now, could he be a dominant number one guy in the big leagues? Absolutely. Is he there now? No. But, man, when I saw this kid pitch and I saw his bullpens—and I have people close to him who report to me on how he’s doing—the ceiling is quite high. It’s infinite." (23:44)

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Jose Mota shares his scouting report on Roki Sasaki

During the same conversation, the analyst gave his scouting report on right-hander Roki Sasaki:

"He has an explosive fastball, lanky body, a lot of deception. Look at his arm swing, arm slot, movement and stride, and you’ll notice a lot of things before you see the baseball. On top of that velocity, he’s got some rise, he's got some movement laterally.

Then the splitter is different than other splitters because it just bottoms out and drops off. It’s not one that glides in—it disappears. They call it a 'heavy bottom splitter' because of the way he executes it. ... He’s one of those guys who’s almost double-jointed, he's able to manipulate the baseball in so many ways and turn his body in so many ways." (24:22)

According to Mota, Roki Sasaki stands out as one of the few young Japanese players—alongside Shohei Ohtani—who has actively advocated for early posting to become a free agent.