The night before Roki Sasaki was to be introduced at Dodger Stadium, the Japanese pitcher met LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and others at his first Lakers game.

The Los Angeles Dodgers introduced prized Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki on Wednesday after he agreed to a minor league contract with a $6.5 million signing bonus. The 23-year-old pitcher donned a No. 11 jersey with R.

Sasaki, nicknamed in Japan as "the Monster of the Reiwa Era," struck out 11 batters in 7 and ⅔ innings with a 3.52 ERA during the 2023 WBC. In Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he struck out 129 hitters in 111 regular-season innings for the Marines in the 2024 season.