Ben Verlander, the younger brother of famous pitcher Justin Verlander (New York Mets) and former major league player, has a crush on another Japanese pitcher.

Verlander was 토토사이트a former outfielder drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 2013 and played in Single-A through 2017. Verlander currently works as an analyst for ‘FOX Sports’. As he himself introduced on his social media, he is also a “big fan of Ohtani.”

Verlander fell in love with Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels), who started his major league career in 2018, and visited Japan in August last year to meet Ohtani’s teachers and friends. In September after he went to Japan, he conducted a one-hour talk program with Ohtani.

Another pitcher caught in the field of view of Verlander, who claims to be a fan of Ohtani, is Roki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte Marines), a ‘fastball pitcher’ who will participate in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) as the Japanese national team.

Verlander shared a video of Sasaki’s bullpen pitching on his SNS on the 6th (Korean time). Sasaki is currently training for the team’s spring camp in Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and plans to join the Miyazaki national team training camp on the 17th.

Verlander said on social media, “You have to remember the name of Rocky Sasaki. He will definitely become a star player. Last year, he recorded a perfect game of 9 innings, and in the next game, he achieved 8 perfect innings. And 103 miles per hour (about 166 km/h). . He plays for the Japanese national team,” he introduced Sasaki.

Sasaki is a pitcher who has received a lot of attention in Japan even before joining the professional league with a fast ball that can travel over 160 km. He turned pro in 2020, but focused on building his body in his first year and debuted in the first team in 2021, his second year season. According to Japan national team coach Hideki Kuriyama, Sasaki will be the third starter for the Japanese national team.