As MLB raises game, NPB continues to fall behind

TOKYO — By now everyone knows the story of Roki Sasaki and how he became a star. His high school manager kept him out of an important regional final that could have taken his team to Koshien because he did not want to put a strain on Sasaki’s young, still developing arm which could throw 100 mile per hour fastballs.

When Sasaki turned pro, joining the Chiba Lotte Marines, he came under the tutelage of two people with vast experience in both the Japanese leagues and MLB, manager Tadahito Iguchi, who spent four years in MLB and helped the Chicago White Sox to win a world championship in 2005, and pitching coach Masato Yoshii, who pitched in the big leagues for five years and helped the Mets advance to postseason playoffs two years in a row in 1998 and 1999.