Baseball: Fireballer Sasaki prepared but anxious ahead of WBC

Fourteen years after Roki Sasaki watched Japan lift the 2009 World Baseball Classic trophy, the right-hander is now hoping to emulate the images he saw on TV as a 7-year-old as he joined Japan’s training camp Friday.

The hardest-throwing pitcher in Japan, Sasaki was an obvious choice for manager Hideki Kuriyama’s 2023 Samurai Japan WBC squad. Although Sasaki said he is as prepared as can be at this stage and has practiced without any hint of injury, he admitted to being concerned about the March tournament.

“Mostly, I feel anxiety,” he said in a recent interview in Okinawa Prefecture.

“The Hin...