Move over Godzilla, there’s a new monster in Japan.

Rōki Sasaki—known as the Monster of Reiwa—is the next phenom pitcher to come out of Japan. The 21-year-old has dominated the 2023 World Baseball Classic, displaying his freakish stuff for the entire world to see.

Sasaki’s brilliance began in pool play against the Czech Republic, where he struck out eight and allowed an unearned run over 3 2/3 innings. In that game, Sasaki’s fastball steadily reached 100 mph, which he paired with his 92 mph splitter. It wasn’t fair.

In Japan’s 6-5 comeback win over Mexico Monday night, Sasaki’s stuff was no different. Against a lineup filled with MLB talent, Sasaki struck out five and walked none over four innings. His fastball was dominant, and halfway through the game, the pitch had an average velocity of 100.5 mph. His only blemish of the night was a hanging splitter in the fourth inning, which Luis Urías crushed to give team Mexico a 3-0 lead.

Sasaki has been a big proponent of Samurai Japan, who remain undefeated in the 2023 WBC and face the United States in the finals on Tuesday night. Japan won the first two WBC titles in 2006 and 2009—the most titles in tournament history—but hasn’t reached the finals since. The championship will be a rematch for Japan, who lost to the United States in the semi-finals back in 2017.

Unfortunately for Sasaki, and everybody watching, he won’t get to be a deciding factor in the 2023 WBC finals. Due to his pitch count against Mexico, he is ineligible to pitch against the United States, ending his stint in the WBC. In total, Sasaki finished with a 3.75 ERA and an unbelievable 16.3 SO/9 in 7 2/3 innings.

While he has reached the end of the road in the WBC, this is just the beginning for Sasaki. His fastball and splitter have amazed many, garnering him comparisons to current MLB greats. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote a piece about Sasaki, stating his floor was Jacob deGrom:

“At worst, he is a Jacob deGrom starter kit, with his splitter as a stand-in for deGrom’s slider. And considering Sasaki also throws a slider and curveball—one person who has studied his Trackman data believes the two pitches, with some easy tweaks, can become dominant offerings—he could soon replicate the versatility of Ohtani’s arsenal, too.”

The comparison to Shohei Ohtani may seem premature or steep, but looking at the past and present, the picture becomes clear. Sasaki has been a household name in Japan for a while due to his stellar high school numbers and velocity. At 17 years old, Sasaki threw a 101 mph fastball, breaking the high school velocity record previously held by Ohtani. Speaking to David Adler of MLB.com, the long-time high school announcer Hisatoshi Kato said this about Sasaki:

“Yusei Kikuchi emerged from this area 10 years ago. Shohei Ohtani emerged a few years later. Now people are saying this kid might be better than those two.”

The high school hype that Sasaki built carried over to Nippon Professional Baseball. The Chiba Lotte Marines drafted Sasaki first overall in 2019, opting to have him throw bullpens for the first couple of years, which allowed the young star to develop physically without straining his arm. Standing at 6’4″ and weighing over 200 pounds, Sasaki dominated his first full year of NPB. In 2022, he went 9-4 while recording a  2.02 ERA, 0.796 WHIP, and 12 SO/9 over 129 1/3 innings.

The highlight of Sasaki’s dominant first season was a perfect game on April 10, 2022, against the Orix Buffaloes. Facing a lineup anchored by the Red Sox’s Masataka Yoshida, Sasaki struck out 19 batters, the most in any perfect game in baseball history. Out of the 19 strikeouts, 13 of them were consecutive, which would have broken the MLB record of 10 held by Tom Seaver and Aaron Nola. It was the 16th perfect game in NPB history, and by far, the most dominant across any professional baseball league.

Following his perfect game, Sasaki threw eight more perfect innings in his next start against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters but was pulled in the ninth to protect his arm. In total, Sasaki threw 17 consecutive perfect innings, which would have broken the MLB record of 15 recorded by Mark Buehrle in 2009.

While Sasaki has reached global recognition, it may be a while until he comes over to the United States. The posting process is unlikely since the player must request the team to be posted, which the team doesn’t have to do. The other option is free agency, which Sasaki won’t reach until he is 25 years old, which would be ahead of the 2027 MLB season.

When asked about playing in MLB and the posting process, Sasaki cited Ohtani as a mentor to the process, stating that he will come when the time is right:

“For the Major Leagues, rather than the timing, I think I will play in Japan, and then I think something will become clear when I’m going to shift over.”

In regards to the Mets, expect them to be players for Sasaki when the time comes. Steve Cohen can outbid any other team for the right to speak to Sasaki and has a secret weapon on his side—Billy Eppler.

Eppler has had deep ties to the NPB for a long time. He signed Ohtani away from other MLB teams in 2018, and recently brought Kodai Senga to the Mets during the 2022-2023 offseason. Factoring in the connection to Japan, and the possibility that Ohtani could be a Met in 2024, the odds of bringing Sasaki to Queens are more of a reality than a pipe dream.

Cohen was sighted wearing a Mets’ hat in Japan for their pool game against team Italy. Whether he was there to scout or enjoy the game is up for debate, but his presence there undoubtedly had an effect. Expect the Mets to be a player for the next Japanese superstar.