CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #383
TSG Hawks News: Sakurai Shuto
On March 16, the TSG Hawks announced the signing of 25-year-old Japanese left-hander Sakurai Shuto (櫻井周斗). According to the team, Sakurai attended and passed their tryout and will begin the 2025 season in Taiwan’s CPBL.
Sakurai Shuto began his professional career in Japan’s NPB in 2017 as a fifth-round pick by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and made his first-team debut in 2019. Over the next seven seasons, he played for both the BayStars and the Eagles, compiling a 4.64 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP with 50 walks over 75.2 innings.
Due to inconsistent command, the Eagles released Sakurai Shuto at the end of the 2024 season. After leaving the NPB system, he joined the Japan Breeze baseball team and participated in the Caribbean Series. However, his struggles with command persisted, as he surrendered four runs and issued six walks over five innings across two appearances.
In 2025, during his tryout with the TSG Hawks, Sakurai Shuto pitched two scoreless innings against the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes, which ultimately earned him a contract in the CPBL.
With the signing of Sakurai Shuto, the TSG Hawks now have Spenser Watkins, Onodera Kento, Yoshida Kazumasa, Steven Moya, Bradin Hagens and Eric Stout as their foreign players.
Further Readings
Foreign players come and go. Therefore, we have compiled a foreign player tracker, and I’ll be updating that list regularly to keep pace with the ever-changing roster shuffle throughout the 2025 CPBL season.