Japanese Phenom Roki Sasaki Strikes out 19 in Perfect Game

Major league teams have to be drooling at the potential of Roki Sasaki.

The 20-year-old right-hander was already on their radar, and now he added another reason for MLB teams to want the potential future ace.

Sasaki tied a Nippon Professional Baseball record with 19 strikeouts in a perfect game on Sunday in leading the Chiba Lotte Marines to a 6-0 victory over the Orix Buffaloes — the first perfect game in NPB history since May 18, 1994, and the 16th the league has ever seen.

“This is the greatest,” Sasaki told reporters after his masterpiece. “Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about the possibility [of a perfect game]. I figured it would be OK if I gave up a hit, so I just pitched and put my trust in [catcher Ko] Matsukawa right until the end.”

Sasaki’s fastball reached 100 mph and he fanned 13 straight hitters in one dazzling stretch. That’s a Japanese record, the Kyodo News reported. Most impressively, he needed only 105 pitches to go the distance.