Was Sasaki Over-Hyped?

[Peter_Spaeth]

1 run in 4 innings today, 3 hits.

[BobbyStrawberry]

I watched the game - his first inning was REALLY bad. He was lucky to give up only 1. He got some favorable calls on balls too, but overall he was much better

[bk400]

I think he's a bust.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by bk400

I think he's a bust.

I think 8 starts is a little soon to call him a bust. He certainly hasn't put up the numbers that he did in Japan, but he wouldn't be the first Japanese pitcher to struggle in MLB before turning into a successful pitcher. I'm not surprised that he's also currently injured as adjusting to a different number of days between starts and a different baseball can cause problems to the shoulder and elbow.

[packs]

Baltimore's 35 year old rookie from Japan Tomoyuki Sugano has been pretty good so far. He's 4-3 with a 3.08 ERA and an ERA+ of 124.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

He's 23, I think there's a little time before we write him off.

[packs]

He's also making less than a million for the season so it's not like he's an albatross signing either.

I think he just has to pitch more. When I think of the pitchers who have come over recently, Senga and Shota were 30 already and were All Stars. Kuroda was 33. I have fond memories of him on the Yankees.

Nomo, Daisuke, Tanaka and Darvish were all 25/26 and Ohtani was 23 but they all threw a lot more innings in Japan before they came over than Sasaki had.