Was Sasaki Over-Hyped?

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

He's a 23 year old in a completely foreign setting in a new league with all new teammates. After 2 games people want to write him off? Come on.

Agreed. I'm sure 29 other teams would be happy to take him off the Dodgers hands if offered the chance.

[bk400]

To be clear, I'm not writing him off. I'm just saying that Dave Roberts is the right guy to be managing a talented, young pitcher in his second game in a foreign land, who is probably feeling the pressure of a nation on his shoulders.

Can you imagine if Roberts left him in and he gets shelled for 8 runs?

[packs]

I think the days of feeling the pressure of the nation are long gone. Ichiro was the definitive I can play here player and Matsui and Ohtani have only further cemented that idea.

[bk400]

Originally Posted by packs

I think the days of feeling the pressure of the nation are long gone. Ichiro was the definitive I can play here player and Matsui and Ohtani have only further cemented that idea.

I'd agree with you. But that may not be how Sasaki feels about it.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by bk400

I'd agree with you. But that may not be how Sasaki feels about it.

It's hard to underestimate how much this kid has been hyped as a generational pitcher. Sure he feels enormous pressure to succeed.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by packs

I think the days of feeling the pressure of the nation are long gone. Ichiro was the definitive I can play here player and Matsui and Ohtani have only further cemented that idea.

Hideo Nomo might have something to say about this.

[packs]

I thought of Nomo but I don't think he convinced anyone that Japanese players "belonged". He had an incredible rookie season but he lacked staying power and I remember a lot of people thinking his delivery was a gimmick that served him well only initially.

Not to say he wasn't good. I just think Ichiro was still the defining player from Japan who convinced MLB that Japanese players could not only do well upon arrival, but sustain a very high level of play.

Nomo was certainly the first, but I consider him in the same pool as Daisuke and Yu Darvish. Decent success but not in the same class as Ichiro and Matsui, though of course infinitely better than Irabu, Kei Igawa, Fukudome, etc.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by packs

I thought of Nomo but I don't think he convinced anyone that Japanese players "belonged". He had an incredible rookie season but he lacked staying power and I remember a lot of people thinking his delivery was a gimmick that served him well only initially.

Not to say he wasn't good. I just think Ichiro was still the defining player from Japan who convinced MLB that Japanese players could not only do well upon arrival, but sustain a very high level of play.

Nomo was certainly the first, but I consider him in the same pool as Daisuke and Yu Darvish. Decent success but not in the same class as Ichiro and Matsui, though of course infinitely better than Irabu, Kei Igawa, Fukudome, etc.

I would argue that Nomo's 3 or 4 All-Star caliber years, ROY award, two top 5 Cy Young finishes, setting the record for K's in a player's first three seasons, Leasing each league in K's, and two no hitters definitely made MLB think, yeah we need to keep a closer eye on Japan. Without Nomo (and also the groundbreaking work done to get him to the US which is a fascinating story) the pipeline might not have opened up regardless of the talent. It might still have been thought of as inferior talent OR nobody might've spotted the loophole that led to the formation of the modern posting rules. If Nomo had tanked I won't say we wouldn't have Japanese players in the majors today, but it would've set the movement back a decade or more possibly costing the MLB the next generations of Japanese players like Matsui, Ichiro, and others.

While Nomo wasn't the impact player that Ichiro and Ohtani were/are, he was great enough to start the flow of talent.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Nomo was definitely a big deal.