Japanese pitching prospect Genei Sato intends to move to the U.S. to attend college in February and eventually enter the MLB draft.
Sato, a right-hander who turns 21 in two days, is viewed as one of Japan’s top young pitching talents with his high-90s fastball and was a candidate to go first in their draft in 2026. In moving to the U.S., he probably won’t pitch in college next season and instead wait for 2027 to potentially enter the MLB draft. He’d still have the option of returning to Japan but that’s clearly not the goal here.
