Rintaro Sasaki has taken the MLB Draft League by storm with the Trenton Thunder. He delivered his biggest hit yet as the club made history another way Tuesday.
The imposing first baseman -- who set the Japanese high school record with 140 homers -- crushed a grand slam in the first inning and that was all the Thunder needed as five pitchers combined for the first no-hitter in the Draft League's 2 1/2-year history, 7-1 over the Frederick Keys.
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Trenton's first four batters reached in the first inning, with Ryland Zaborowski drawing a bases-loaded walk before Sasaki came to the plate. After three pitches off the plate, the 19-year-old crushed a low-and-away fastball by right-hander Adam Falinski 371 feet at 103.9 mph over the left-center fence.
Sasaki reached base two more times on walks, continuing a dominant stretch in his first live-game action in the United States. The 19-year-old made a monumental move to forgo the NPB Draft -- where he was expected to go first overall -- and committed to Stanford instead. Sasaki will be eligible to play with the Cardinal next season and can enter the 2026 MLB Draft.
The 6-foot, 250-pound slugger has reached base safely in all 17 of his games with Trenton while crushing four homers and hitting .281/.438/.526 -- second on the circuit in homers, slugging and OPS (.964). He also has more walks (15) than strikeouts (11).
The Frederick Keys put a run on the board in the bottom of the first as leadoff man Jordan Williams (Florida State) walked, stole two bases and crossed the plate on a groundout, but were kept silent after that.
Trenton starter Cristofer Cespedes went 3 1/3 innings, followed by 2 2/3 frames by Ethan Bradford (Kansas). Relievers Cade Udell (Villanova), Channing Austin (Southern California) and Brenton Fisher (Longwood) pitched an inning apiece as the group combined for seven strikeouts.