Takeru Sasaki
{{short description|Japanese baseball player (born 1996)}}
{{Infobox NPB player
|name=Takeru Sasaki
|image=2022年9月24日.佐々木健投手.jpg
|image_size=250
|caption=Sasaki in 2022
|position=Pitcher
|team=Saitama Seibu Lions
|number=49
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1996|5|13}}
|debutleague=NPB
|debutdate=June 11
|debutyear=2021
|debutteam=Saitama Seibu Lions
|statleague=NPB
|statyear=2023 season
|stat1label=Win–loss record
|stat1value= 3–1
|stat2label=Earned Run Average
|stat2value= 3.05
|stat3label=Strikeouts
|stat3value= 41
|teams=
- Saitama Seibu Lions ({{npby|2021}}–present)
| awards=
}}
{{nihongo|Takeru Sasaki|佐々木 健|Sasaki Takeru|extra=born May 13, 1996}} is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Career
Sasaki was drafted by the Saitama Seibu Lions with the team's 2nd pick in the 2020 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
On June 11, 2021, Sasaki made his NPB debut, pitching 2.0 scoreless innings against the Chunichi Dragons. On July 2, Sasaki became the first player in NPB history to be ejected while facing the first batter of the game. His 3rd pitch of the game hit Orix Buffaloes leadoff hitter Shuhei Fukuda in the head, which resulted in an automatic ejection.{{cite tweet|number=1410979996420624384|user=NPB_Reddit|title=Seibu Lions pitcher Takeru Sasaki became the 1st pitcher in NPB history to be ejected while facing the 1st batter o… |date=2 July 2021}} He finished his rookie campaign making 5 appearances, struggling to an 8.31 ERA with 4 strikeouts in {{fraction|8|2|3}} innings of work.
In 2022, Sasaki made 37 appearances for Seibu, posting a 3-0 record and 3.03 ERA with 24 strikeouts in {{fraction|29|2|3}} innings pitched.{{Cite web|title=Takeru Sasaki Japanese League Statistics|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=sasaki003tak|access-date=2023-04-27|website=baseball-reference.com|language=en}}
Sasaki did not make an appearance for Seibu during the 2024 season.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Saitama Seibu Lions roster navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasaki, Takeru}}