When pitching in Japan, Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki dominated thanks to a great fastball that often touched triple digits. However, his velocity has declined in recent seasons, despite being just 23 years old.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lured Roki Sasaki with promises of fixing his once-electric fastball, but that claim has already fallen apart a month into his MLB career.

Columnist Dylan Hernández writes that Roki Sasaki can still become everything the Dodgers envisioned, but his path to greatness has become infinitely more complicated.

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Sasaki entered MLB as one of the most-hyped prospects in living memory, in the zip code of Paul Skenes and Stephen Strasburg. However, it's becoming increasingly clear he did not enter the league as a finished product like his teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who accomplished much more in NPB before coming over.

Roberts has said all the right things about Sasaki, but he’s also admitted that he needs to improve. However, if the Dodgers expect him to be the arm he was expected to be, that'll likely come from development at the major league level.

When the Los Angeles Dodgers landed Roki Sasaki, it felt like they had plucked a lightning rod straight out of the Tokyo Dome. The post “Tough to Watch Him” – Roki Sasaki’s Slump Sparks MLB Insider Concern Amid Growing Criticism appeared first on EssentiallySports.

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed pitcher Roki Sasaki with the belief that he could follow—and potentially surpass—countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. While some adjustment was expected as Sasaki transitioned to pitching full time in Major League Baseball,