phenom

But here, it’s directed at the young phenom Sasaki to bedevil hitters when he comes out in relief.

And he delivered the kind of game the baseball world dreamed about when the two-way phenom first arrived from Japan, fulfilling the prophecy that accompanied him as a near-mythical prospect eight years earlier.

Practically overnight, the 23-year-old Sasaki has transformed from a fading phenom into the burgeoning ace the Dodgers envisioned when they signed him in January.

It had been eight months since Sasaki signed with the Dodgers amid massive expectations, coming over from Japan as a 23-year-old phenom billed as possessing some of the best raw arm talent in the world.

Another theory is that Euro phenoms arrive toughened up by playing against older men.