Kaito Yuki is headed to the Kansas City Royals organization instead of attending high school in Japan.

The team signed Yuki, a 16-year-old pitcher, out of junior high to a standard seven-year minor league contract Sunday. He is thought to be the first Japanese junior high school player to sign with a major league club.

"I wanted to play in the United States as soon as possible, rather than playing high school ball at Koshien Stadium (in Japan's iconic national championship)," Yuki said in a Royals press release.