Rintaro Sasaki of the Stanford Cardinal swings at a pitch during a game between Stanford and Waseda University of Japan at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond on Feb. 25, 2026, in Stanford, Calif.

A torrid hot stretch, capped off by a damaging shot to a scoreboard, has put Stanford baseball’s Japanese slugging phenom back into the spotlight. 

Three years ago, Rintaro Sasaki was the most talked-about high school prospect in Japan. He was already known for being the son of a coaching legend, as his father coached both Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi. But then Sasaki made a name for himself when he hit a country-record 140 home runs in high school.

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He easily could have been the top player in Japan’s professional league draft. But he made a stunning decision to forgo the pros in Japan and instead come to the United States, electing to play college baseball at Stanford. His decision, and the unique path, made him one of the most fascinating people in........

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