With a record-setting fastball and a lean, 6-foot-1 frame, 18-year-old Yokohama High School pitcher Shoki Oda was already the subject of plenty of teams’ attention. Predicted to go in the first round of the NPB Draft, Oda announced on Thursday morning that he is going to follow in the footsteps of Rintaro Sasaki and pursue opportunities in the United States -- either by signing with an MLB team as an international free agent or attending an American college.
Oda first came to fame earlier this year at the Summer Koshien, Japan's prestigious high school baseball tournament, pitching for the same high school as Daisuke Matsuzaka when he first rose to prominence in 1998. Called out of the bullpen during a bases-loaded threat, he fired a tournament-record 97.6 mph fastball to end the threat and help lead Yokohama to the semifinals.
That kind of velocity alone caught scouts' attention, putting him in the same camp with Shohei Ohtani, who reached 99.4 mph in high school, and Roki Sasaki, who also recorded 99.4 mph in an official high school game.
The right-hander followed up that performance with a star showing at the U-18 World Cup Qualifiers. During Japan's runner-up finish, Oda gave up one run and struck out seven against Chinese Taipei, with Francys Romero calling him the No. 1 prospect at the tournament. He has a bevy of secondary offerings, too, with a slider, curveball, changeup, splitter and cutter in his arsenal.
Oda's choice to skip the NPB Draft is the latest in a relatively short list of players who have done the same. Sasaki was the first and most notable player to move to the U.S. to pursue a Major League career instead of one in NPB, later joining the Marlins after being drafted in the seventh round this summer. A's prospect Shotaro Morii opted to sign with an MLB team rather than enter the NPB Draft; Genei Sato transferred from Sendai University to Penn State to become eligible for next year's MLB Draft; and two-way University of Georgia player Kenny Ishikawa, who began his collegiate career in Japan, was drafted in the 13th round by the Reds this past summer.