The incoming class of 2025 is headlined by two potentially front-line pitchers from Japan and a hitter from the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). Roki Sasaki, who just signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has rightfully received the most attention and could potentially have a huge fantasy impact for years to come. The other two are Tomoyuki Sugano, who signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles, and Hyeseong Kim, an infielder who signed for three years and $12.5 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Should we expect this class to be as impactful as last season, when MLB experienced one of its largest-ever influx of players from Asia? 2024 was highlighted by Yoshinobu Yamamoto signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers and joining Shohei Ohtani, who had inked a free agent deal with the club just a few weeks earlier. Other notable additions from Japan were Shota Imanaga by the Cubs, Yuki Matsui by the Padres and Naoyuki Uwasawa by the Tampa Bay Rays. Those coming over from South Korea included Jung Hoo Lee, who signed with the San Francisco Giants, and Woo-Suk Go, who joined the Padres but spent 2024 toiling in the minors.
Let's dive into the numbers and see what fantasy managers should reasonably expect from these new entries into the player pool.
Roki Sasaki, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Sasaki is a 23-year-old right-hander, widely considered to be the best pitcher in Japan. He spent the past four seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Sasaki is classified as an international amateur because he's yet to turn 25 years old. As such, MLB clubs are confined to paying him from their international bonus pool. Similar to Ohtani's first contract, Sasaki's compensation will be light compared to the contracts signed by Yamamoto and Imanaga, but Sasaki opted for this path, knowing he can cash in down the road, not to mention supplement his income with endorsement deals.
Sasaki features a three-pitch repertoire including a four-seam fastball, a slider and a splitter. Our expectations for Sasaki in 2025 are based on data from other pitchers who have transitioned to MLB from Japan. Translations deem the quality of play in NPB to be a tick above the average Double-A team, with the caveat that Sasaki is significantly younger than most of the other hurlers in this sampling. We usually apply an "aging factor" when translating minor league production. That will be applied here, with the understanding that this adjustment is based on the performance of US-based players, not those in Japan.
Keep in mind that Sasaki's K% last season dropped to 28.7. If he regains some of his lost velocity -- more on that below -- the 2025 expectation listed above might go up a few ticks, which could also drop his ERA into the 3.30 range.
While we do typically expect NPB pitchers to experience a stats decline across the board in their first stateside season, that might not end up being the case in every category. By means of comparison, here are the 2021-23 NPB numbers for Yamamoto and Imanaga, along with their stats from last season.
The skills trends (K%, BB%, HR%) are more telling than the ERA and WHIP, which can be noisy in limited innings. Yamamoto's K% improved, though it's not known if that number would have held up for longer than the 90 innings pitched he logged. Meanwhile, Imanaga's K% barely ticked down. As you can see, their BB% went in opposite directions, with Yamamoto worsening and Imanaga improving.
Cause for concern?
In 2023, Sasaki averaged 99 mph on his fastball, but that slid to 96.8 last season. It's unclear whether the velocity drop was by design or perhaps due to a latent arm issue. Sasaki missed two months in 2023 because of a left oblique injury and another two months last summer because of an undisclosed arm injury. Compiling a lesser workload at his age could work to his advantage, provided Sasaki is 100 percent healthy, and there has been no chatter about any lingering issues.
In today's pitching landscape, it's safe to assume that Sasaki will be limited to one start per week, capping him around 27 outings. Complicating matters are his injury history and young age. There might not be a current expensive, multiyear contract for the Dodgers to protect, but that's likely to be the long-term goal. We've projected Sasaki for 24 starts, landing him between 135 and 140 innings. This is a reasonable bump from last year's 111 frames.
The Dodgers are ideally set up to slot Sasaki into their rotation since Ohtani, Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are all best suited to take the hill once a week. Only Blake Snell is more accustomed to working every fifth or sixth day. Manager Dave Roberts will have to get creative, or Snell will also join his rotation mates on the once-a-week plan.
Fantasy value
In early National Championship drafts, Sasaki is being drafted as SP40, amid the neighborhood of Jack Flaherty, Spencer Strider, Jared Jones and Bryan Woo. He's currently SP36 in ESPN's 2025 points league rankings and SP31 in ESPN's 2025 rankings for category and roto leagues.
In the initial ESPN projections, Sasaki lands at SP46. Keep in mind that these projections are formulaic, so they incorporate a relatively low IP total, which is why it makes sense that this ranking is lower than the other three lists. If the stats from the pitcher used in place of Sasaki when he misses a start are reflected, his ranking markedly improves.
Most ESPN fantasy managers will roster four or five starting pitchers they plan to have active for most, if not all of the season. The other spots are for relievers or streaming starters, to be used in a favorable matchup and then replaced. At SP46, Sasaki is on the borderline between being worthy of a season-long roster spot and being no more than a weekly streaming candidate. If we knew Sasaki was going to start around 27 games, then we would bump his projection into well within the top 40 and into one of those "set it and forget it" roster spots.
Dynasty leagues add another layer of intrigue. Sasaki is comparable in age to Pirates SP phenom Paul Skenes. Even with the injury concern, some dynasty rankings actually favor Sasaki over last season's NL Rookie of the Year (although a majority do prefer Skenes). In ESPN's upcoming dynasty rankings for 2025, both will be top-10 SP talents, with Skenes the likely SP2 and Sasaki in the neighborhood of SP8-10. Still, the fact it's even this close is testament to Sasaki's enormous potential.
Tomoyuki Sugano, SP, Baltimore Orioles
Sugano was initially posted following the 2020 season, but he didn't draw much interest and returned to the Yomiuri Giants of NPB. After three subpar years compared to his numbers heading into the 2021 season, the 35-year-old Sugano found the fountain of youth in 2024, recording a 1.67 ERA and an 0.95 WHIP, albeit with only 111 punchouts in 156⅔ frames. Even with the low strikeout total, it was enough for him to secure a one-year, $13 million contract with the Orioles.
Sugano will slot into the back end of the rotation, where it will be easier to afford him extra rest so that he can mimic the "one start a week" schedule to which he has grown accustomed. After making only 16 starts in 2023, Sugano took the mound 24 times last season on his way to sharing the Japan Central League's MVP (with SoftBank Hawks outfielder Kensuke Kondo). Previously, Sugano had won the award outright twice.
Sugano throws six pitches, led by a 92 mph four-seam fastball he deployed 26% of the time last season. Next was a cutter and slider each at 20%, followed by a splitter (17%), sinker (9%) and curve (8%). He's not dominant, as evidenced by last season's 18.3% strikeout rate, but his command and control of his pitch mix is excellent. He registered a frugal 2.6% walk rate and a minuscule 0.34 HR/9.
Sugano is projected for the same 24 starts and 135-140 innings as Sasaki. Sugano's NFBC ADP is SP 119, while his ranking based on his projection is SP87. In deeper leagues, an argument can be made for preferring Sugano at his draft cost relative to Sasaki's at his, though Sasaki is clearly the better hurler. In ESPN standard leagues, however, Sugano is merely streamer material.
Hyeseong Kim, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kim debuted in 2017 for the Kiwoom Heroes of KBO as an 18-year-old. He spent the next seven years with the club, compiling a .304/.364/.403 line while averaging more than 30 steals per season. Last year, he hit .326/.383/.458 with a career-high 11 homers. His game is putting the ball in play as he sported a 16.1% strikeout rate over his time with Kiwoom, including just a 10.9% mark last season.
The Dodgers didn't sign Kim for his power. They want his up-the-middle defense, as he's the only player in KBO history to be awarded the Gold Glove at both shortstop and second base. Kim has manned the keystone for the past three seasons, and that's where he's earmarked to play with the Dodgers.
Fantasy-wise, Kim is best suited for deeper category-based or rotisserie leagues where his stolen base prowess is more valuable. He's also shaping up to be a viable streamer in daily leagues when the Dodgers play on Monday or Thursday, especially just to add a steal or two to your team totals.
Shinnosuke Ogasawara, SP, Washington Nationals
The Chunichi Dragons of NPB posted Ogasawara in December. He had been with the club since 2016, recording a career 3.62 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with an 18.9% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate -- not nearly as impressive as either Sasaki or Sugano. Last season, Ogasawara fanned only 13.6% of the batters he faced, but he issued free passes just 3.7% of the time.
As a 27-year-old with nine years of NPB experience, Ogasawara is not subject to the same financial restrictions as Sasaki, yet he still shouldn't cost nearly as much as Sugano. Ogasawara profiles as a back-end starter, whose low K% is best suited as a fantasy streamer.
Koyo Aoyagi, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Aoyogi is also a nine-year NPB veteran, although he's 31 years old. He was with the Hanshin Tigers for his whole career. The club posted him in December, but like Ogasawara, he has not been dominant. He has only a 17.1% career strikeout rate, dropping to 16.1% last season. He's also ticketed for "back end of the rotation" work, with limited fantasy charm.
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Shunpeita Yamashita, SP, Orix Buffaloes
A 22-year-old right-hander, Yamashita is a former teammate of Yamamoto. He was the Central League's 2023 Rookie of the Year but struggled with control last season. Even so, Yamashita remains one of Japan's rising stars. He's one of the hardest throwers in the league with a 95-97 mph fastball, warranting a roster spot in dynasty formats.
Kona Takahashi, SP, Saitama Seibu Lions
Takahashi's allure has increased after spending time at Driveline, where he worked on increasing his velocity. It appears he'll spend his 28-year-old season with the Lions, as they opted not to post him, despite his desire to play in Major League Baseball. He's eligible for domestic free agency after this season, but unless he's posted sooner, Takahashi won't see international free agency until after the 2027 season.
Hiroto Takahashi, SP, Chunichi Dragons
Just 22 years old, Takahashi has already experienced success on the big stage after fanning Paul Goldschmidt and Mike Trout in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Unless he is posted, Takahashi will have to be patient as he isn't eligible for international free agency until after the 2029 season. History suggests he won't have to wait that long as most players expressing a desire to play in MLB are posted before accruing the requisite nine years of service to become international free agents.
Munetaka Murakami, 3B, Yakult Swallows
Murakami is the top batter to monitor, especially since it's written in his contract that he will be posted following the 2025 season. Murakami won the NPB Triple Crown in 2022 but has been unable to sustain an elevated batting average. His power and on-base skills remain, though, as evidenced by a combined .250/.377/.486 line over the past two seasons.
Kim Do-yeong, 3B, Kia Tigers (KBO)
The 20-year-old recorded a .347/.420/.647 line with 40 steals last season. The track record for KBO power translating over to MLB isn't promising, but Kim is special. He has three years under his belt, so even if he must wait a few more years to be posted, it would be in the prime of his career. It's risky to speculate about such a young player from the KBO, but Kim could be worth the wait.