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14 hours ago
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have plenty of highly-paid superstars, but one has stood out above the rest so far this season.
After signing a record-breaking $325 million deal to join the Dodgers before the 2024 season, Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been virtually unhittable. So far this year he leads all Major League Baseball starters with a 1.06 ERA across six starts, logging 43 strikeouts in the process.
But after his latest gem — a one-hit, six-inning start against the Atlanta Braves — the Dodgers have decided to make a change with their ace.
“Yamamoto only threw 91 pitches (he’s gone over 100 twice already this year),” Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reported after the Braves win. “But given the Dodgers’ rotation injuries, his next start will likely come on five days’ rest as opposed to the six days of rest he has been getting this year.”
The Dodgers are scrambling to field healthy arms as Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and several relievers sit on the injured list. The team has tried to offer its Japanese transplants the amount of rest they are accustomed to in Nippon Professional Baseball, but manager Dave Roberts has been mulling the shorter-rest cycle that’s typical for Major League Baseball rotations instead.
Harris suggested that the team pulled Yamamoto after just 91 pitches because they expect him to embark on his next start after only five days off.
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“Dave Roberts confirmed this was the case postgame,” per Harris. “Means Yamamoto will likely make his next start in Arizona on Thursday.”
So far in his stateside career, Yamamoto has shown he’s as good a starting pitcher as anyone else in all of baseball. If he’s able to shoulder a bit more workload with the same results, that could be a key to the marathon season for the Dodgers.
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Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.
With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.
English (US)