We should expect a chemistry within a range specified for the alloy it is claimed to be, and we can reasonably expect it to be annealed, probably spheroidized, especially if described as such. Not much beyond that.
I personally believe that if we all were more insistent on being provide spec and data sheets with our material, what we could expect could greatly increase, until then, we get whatever we are given and have to just trust that it is what we were told it is. If it is my tool steel stock, or if I am doing research with it, it must come with spec sheets and papers of origin, or I go elsewhere.
As for optimizing our heat treatments, based upon that initial condition- that is sort of tough because the supplier wants to provide you with material that is annealed to provide the easiest of machining, and this is often in direct opposition to what we want for quick and easy heat treating. Easy machining often means coarse and widely separated carbides, which requires more effort with time and temperature to put into solution.
So, in light of this, you are very much correct that, with proper forging methods, a forged blade will be much more responsive to a quick heat treatment than a stock removed blade, unless that blade is also normalized. I have, on the other hand seen forged blades that were even more difficult to put into solution after improperly low forging heats, which only exacerbated the as received condition.
