LOS ANGELE**S ¨C** The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed international free agent right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki.

Sasaki, 23, joins the Dodgers after spending the last four seasons with the Chiba Lotte Mariners of the Nippon Professional Baseball league. The right-hander went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 111 innings last year for the Mariners. He struck out 129 batters against 32 walks while posting a 1.036 WHIP.

The two-time NPB All-Star (2022, 2023) had his best campaign in 2022, going 9-4 with a 2.02 ERA with two complete games. He tossed a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes on April 10, becoming the 16^th pitcher in NPB history to toss a perfect game and the first player since Hiromi Makihara (1994). He struck out 19 batters in the game, including 13 in-a-row to set a record for consecutive strikeouts in a game. His 19 strikeouts tied Koji Nada for most strikeouts in NPB game and he would go on to set another record as he retired 52 straight batters with eight perfect innings in his next start on April 17 against Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He finished his historic two starts in April with 17 perfect innings and 33 strikeouts as he went on to set career highs in innings pitched (129.1), strikeouts (173) and walks per nine innings (1.6) during his All-Star Campaign.

The 6-foot-2 pitcher went 30-15 with a 2.02 ERA in four seasons with the Mariners. He struck out 524 batters in 414.2 innings with three complete games. He has posted a 0.883 WHIP in 69 career games.

Sasaki made his international debut in 2023 as one of the stalwarts for the Japan team in the World Baseball Classic. He made two starts, going 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings. He led the team to a Gold Medal finish as team Japan ousted the United States in the final at loanDepot Park.

Sasaki will be the 13th Japanese-born player to wear a Dodger uniform, joining Dodger Manager Dave Roberts (2002-2004), Hideo Nomo (1995-1998, 2002-2004), Masao Kida (2003-2004), Kazuhisa Ishii (2002-2004), Norihiro Nakamura (2005), Takashi Saito (2006-2008), Hiroki Kuroda (2008-2011), Kenta Maeda (2016-2019), Yu Darvish (2017), Yoshi Tsutsugo (2021) and teammates Shohei Ohtani (2024-) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2024-). It will be the second straight season the Dodgers carry two or more Japanese born players and the first time in franchise history with three on the same squad.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will host an introductory press conference for Sasaki today at 3:00 p.m. at Dodger Stadium. To RSVP and for further details, please email emailing [email protected].