As Patience wears thin, so does prospect’s potential

Prospects are the foundation of every professional team. Oftentimes a team’s success is dependent on a franchise’s ability to draft and develop younger players to play key roles in the future. In the past it was understood that this was often a long process; taking several years in minor leagues before they were ready to compete and produce at the highest levels. But there has been a notable departure from this doctrine. Social media has encouraged and made it possible for regular fans to share their opinions, and mainly their impatience or anger toward players for mistakes or lack of production. 

Many of these athletes when first entering professional sports are 18-22 years old. They are far from done learning or growing not only physically and mentally, but growing their skills as well. The idea that players need to be developing and producing at a high rate after leaving juniors or college is extremely unrealistic and perpetuated by one-off generational talents; which are just that, generational talents that should not be the standard to which all prospects are held to. Players and people grow on different timelines and fans need to be more patient with them or risk hindering their development by slandering and harassing them for bad performances. 

This has become a prevalent problem in all major team sports. One example of this is the National Football League’s (NFL) spike in quarterbacks starting in their first season on teams wholly unprepared and unable to put a solid team in front of them. Quarterbacks like Josh Rosen, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold have had their confidence crushed by the impatience of fanbases or teams, not allowing them to sit behind a veteran and learn. Rather, they are thrown into the deep end and when they struggle, they are quickly labeled a bust and thrown away from the cycle to continue. 

Roki Sasaki, the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is another example of impatience damaging a prospect’s development. Sasaki has faced major scrutiny by fans and critics of the Dodgers throughout his short professional career in America. Sasaki has struggled at the highest level of American baseball since his debut last year, and these struggles have persisted going into the 2026-2027 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. The slow start has fans questioning whether Sasaki is better served in a closing or reliever role rather than a starter. 

Sasaki was touted as one of the biggest international free agents coming into the 2025 offseason. The Dodgers signed the then 23 year old Sasaki to a one year contract at league minimum. 

During Sasaki’s first season in the MLB, one of the largest sells for the young pitcher, his velocity, seemed to be gone. Where he used to frequently hit 100 mph on his fastball, as Sasaki began his rookie season his fastball seemed to drop around five mph from his previous averages. This can be attributed to a number of factors, such as the differences between Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB, Japan’s highest level of baseball) and MLB regulated baseballs, minor arm injuries, and changes in mechanics during the 2025-2026 MLB season. This didn’t stop many fans from quickly going online, bashing the young prospect and drawing their conclusions on the pitcher – despite showing flashes of his potential during the MLB postseason – as a closer. 

Kyle Matsui (’26), varsity pitcher for the Samo boys’ baseball, detailed his thoughts on criticisms and impatience around Sasaki.

“He has talent, he showed it in Japan. He just needs to showcase that, and the dodgers need to give him more opportunities or have a discussion with him,” Matsui said. 

Sasaki’s early career highlights an emerging problem in sports. With games and lowlights being more available than ever, coupled with almost anyone being able to voice their opinions online, it has created a fanbase of short memories which has prioritized success now as the primary indicator of a player’s value. Players—younger prospects in particular—are bound to hit rough patches. Where franchises once were patient and allowed players to adjust has now changed into a now or never mentality. 

Early struggles entering the MLB from the NPB isn't exclusive to Sasaki. Yamamoto, now considered one of the best pitchers in the league, struggled his rookie season. He had a disastrous debut, allowing five runs in one inning; followed by inconsistent command throughout his rookie year on his fastball. Later, he would win World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) and was a Cy Young Finalist (awarded to the best pitchers in the MLB). It shows there is a learning curve but is still possible to succeed after a rocky start. The idea that Sasaki will fail as a starter based on a very limited sample size is unconvincing. Sasaki is 24 years old and has plenty of time to develop and learn. Fans need to simmer down and give Sasaki and other players the space and ability to succeed without added pressure to do so sooner than they may be ready for.