Rintaro Sasaki's 458-foot giant home run! US media exclaims: Next Shohei Ohtani

Rintaro Sasaki, a younger alumnus of Shohei Ohtani's alma mater Hanamaki Higashi High School, made his debut at the 2026 MLB Draft Combine. This performance highlighting his natural gifts proved his top-tier long-ball capability and ignited a wave of excitement among US fans online.

Under the watchful eyes of scouts and personnel from all 30 MLB teams, Sasaki showcased remarkable bat speed and explosive power. He launched a colossal home run with a flight distance of 458 feet (approximately 139.6 meters). His smooth swing was accompanied by a crisp crack of the bat, causing scouts to nod approvingly and keep scribbling notes.

The official MLB social media account later released a highlight reel of his batting, which rapidly went viral online. Fans were amazed by the young slugger's potential, flooding the comments section with praise. Some even rated him highly, describing him as the perfect combination of "the next Ohtani and Murakami," believing he possesses both Ohtani's power-hitting and Munetaka Murakami's imposing presence at the plate.

Sasaki hit a total of 140 home runs during his time at Hanamaki Higashi High School, making him one of the most promising power hitters in Japanese history. In the 2025 NPB draft, he was selected as the first pick by the SoftBank Hawks, but ultimately chose to go to the United States to attend Stanford University, aiming to challenge MLB directly through the NCAA system. This decision shocked the Japanese baseball world at the time and was seen as a major turning point in the development path of elite Japanese high school players.

In the 2026 season, he delivered an impressive performance in the NCAA, with his power-hitting drawing first-round grades from many scouts. US media generally believes he has the potential to become the most watched Asian position player in this year's MLB draft.