Phillies have shown interest in Japanese righty Roki Sasaki

Pitching is an aspect of baseball that the Philadelphia Phillies could always use help with.

This year's free-agent class is filled with plenty of starting and bullpen pitchers that the Phillies could consider.

However, there is a pitcher that the Phillies have shown interest in from Nippon Professional Baseball of Japan.

Roki Sasaki is that pitcher.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com , the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan will begin the process of posting the right-handed pitcher Sasaki.

This most likely means he'll be coming to Major League Baseball next season.

In his career, Sasaki has posted a 2.10 ERA with 505 strikeouts in 394 2/3 innings over four seasons with the Marines.

He is only 23 years old, which could make it very enticing for teams to sign him.

In the 2024 season, Sasaki finished with an 2.35 ERA and collected 129 strikeouts in 111 innings pitched.

He would also finish with a record of 10-5.

Another enticing aspect of Sasaki is his pitches.

His fastball nearly reaches triple digits and can also throw a split-fingered splitter which is said to be his best pitch.

As the Phillies could use help in the starting pitching department, taking a chance on Sasaki wouldn't be a bad idea.

Coming soon to MLB: Roki Sasaki pic.twitter.com/nWEfIQmMNl Sasaki is said to have many teams after him once he is posted and the Phillies might be one of them.

According to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer , the Phillies have already scouted the right-hander.

The Phillies have never signed a player coming out of Japan, but they were involved in the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes last offseason.

He ultimately decided to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he was given the biggest contract of any pitcher at $325M.

Money is something that Sasaki is going to be after, but because of his contract having a cap due to his age, preferences and comfortability may play a role as well.

All 30 teams are going to have contact with him once he's eligible to start talking to clubs.

The Phillies only need help filling the fifth spot in the rotation, so they won't need help right away.

However, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has talked about possibly signing a starting pitcher this offseason.

With top prospect Andrew Painter coming off Tommy John surgery, fans can't expect him to pitch an entire season in 2025.

This would then lead to the fifth spot in the rotation being open for grabs.

There should be plenty of competition for this spot in spring training.

Should the Phillies win the Sasaki sweepstakes, he would be for now and the future.

With Ranger Suarez set to be a free agent after the 2025 season and Taijuan Walker's future with the Phillies unknown, adding Sasaki to the rotation would be a smart move..

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