Career Accolades

  • ACC All-Academic Team (2025)
  • Selected in the first round of the 2025 Nippon Professional Baseball Draft by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

As a Sophomore (2026)

  • Selected in the first round of the 2025 Nippon Professional Baseball Draft by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
  • Started all 54 games, batting .262 with 47 runs scored, 11 doubles, 16 home runs and 47 RBIs
  • Slugged .549 with a .403 on-base percentage and drew a team-best 45 walks
  • Compiled 13 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI contests, including driving in five runs at Notre Dame (May 3)
  • Batted .273 (33-for-121) with 25 runs scored, six doubles, 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in ACC play
  • Launched a walk-off grand slam to sweep No. 8 Florida State (April 26)
  • Strung together a nine-game hit streak from April 25 to May 9
  • Hit safely in 12 of his last 16, 16 of his last 21, 21 of his last 27, 24 of his last 32, and 35 of his last 46
  • Reached base in each of his final 16 games and all but four games on the season
  • Had 27 of his 54 hits on the year go for extra-bases (11 doubles and 16 home runs)
  • Contributed a walk-off single to beat Utah Valley (March 21)
  • Scored at least one run in nine straight games from March 14-29 and scored in all but 19 contests this season
  • Homered in three straight games from April 18-22

As a Freshman (2025)

  • Perfect Game Midseason Freshman All-America second team
  • Baseball America Preseason National Freshman of the Year
  • D1Baseball Preseason ACC Freshman of the Year
  • Baseball America Preseason ACC Freshman of the Year
  • Baseball America Preseason Top 25 Freshmen (No. 1)
  • Perfect Game Preseason Top 75 Freshmen (No. 3)
  • D1Baseball Preseason Top 50 First Basemen (No. 15)
  • ACC All-Academic Team
  • Started all 52 games, batting .269 with 24 runs scored, eight doubles, seven home runs and 41 RBIs
  • Slugged .413 with a .377 on-base percentage and went 1-for-2 in stolen bases
  • Compiled 14 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI contests, including a pair of four-RBI games
  • Hit safely in 35 of his 52 games and reached in all but nine contests after opening his career with a string of 14 straight games reaching safely
  • Homered five times and managed three doubles, 13 runs scored and 19 RBIs in ACC play
  • First career home run came as part of a two-homer game vs. Duke, including a walk-off three-run homer, to record four RBIs and hand Stanford an 11-1 run-rule victory (March 15)
  • Batted .429 with three runs scored, three homers and eight RBIs vs. Duke (March 14-16)
  • Strung together a seven-game hit streak from February 23 to March 7
  • Drove in four runs and batted 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored in his collegiate debut at Cal State Fullerton (February 15)
  • Went 2-for-3 with a run scored, a double, a home run and three RBIs vs. Notre Dame (April 20)
  • Finished 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBIs vs. Grand Canyon (May 10)
  • Batted a team-best .378 with six runs scored, two doubles and 11 RBIs while posting a .477 on-base percentage in the month of February
  • Connected for four home runs while scoring six runs and driving in 14 during the month of March
  • Scored eight runs and collected four doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs in May

Prior to Stanford 

  • 2024 graduate of Hanamaki Higashi High School in Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan
  • Joined the Stanford baseball program in March 2024 after completing his high school career, but did not play in games for the Cardinal
  • Helped his team to a semifinal and quarterfinal finish at the national tournament during his high school career
  • Set the Japanese high school record with 140 career home runs

Personal

  • Son of Reika and Hiroshi Sasaki
  • Father, Hiroshi, is the head baseball coach at Hanamaki Higashi High School which has produced MLB stars Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi
  • Has one sister, Shu
Rintaro Sasaki 2025 Headshot
2025
First Base
6-0 / 275 lbs