Yoshinobu Yamamoto was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers to a record-setting contract for this exact reason, to pitch in a critical do-or-die game and help them advance to another round. This is the biggest start of Yamamoto’s young MLB career up to this point, and after he became the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history. He broke a record previously set by Gerrit Cole ($324 million), and now the Dodgers’ season relies on their highly-paid ace to do a job in the postseason. In Game 1, he delivered a clunker and was chased after just three innings by the San Diego offense.
He stares down that very same lineup as he goes up against fellow Japanese ace Yu Darvish, and on the horizon lies either a date with the New York Mets in the NLCS or a long, cold winter where LA’s offseason spending spree resulted in another early exit.
Dodgers Turn To Yoshinobu Yamamoto To Send Them to the NLCS
The Dodgers have been bedeviled by terrible starting pitching in each of their last two trips to the postseason, as the Diamondbacks trampled all over their rotation in 2023 and the Padres have dogwalked each of the Dodgers’ starters this series. The lone exception was Ryan Brasier, the opener for a bullpen game that helped Los Angeles avoid the same fate they suffered in the 2022 NLDS when they lost in four games and dropped both Games 3 and 4 at Petco Park.
You sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto for one reason and one reason only; to deliver in the postseason. While he’s only 25 years old, this isn’t some young starter who is getting used to the big moment, Yamamoto has delivered big starts in the Nippon Baseball League where he led the Orix Buffaloes to playoff glory. He also pitched in the World Baseball Classic, representing Team Japan en route to a dominant undefeated run in the tournament.
With Fernando Tatis Jr. looking unstoppable at the plate, he heads an offense that crushed the Japanese-born phenom in Game 1 of the NLDS.
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Manny Machado jumped all over a Yoshinobu Yamamoto cutter for a home run in the first inning, and San Diego would tag him four more runs throughout the start. They chased him with just three innings pitched, and if Yamamoto wants to ingratiate himself to Los Angeles and that demanding fanbase, he has to deliver tonight. In 2020, the Dodgers got a combined 3.17 ERA in the postseason from their starting pitching as they guided Los Angeles to their first World Series Championship in over three decades; it’s been nothing but disaster from that group since then.
Since their incredible run to the title, their starters have allowed 58 earned runs in 82.1 innings, getting a hair under 3.2 innings per start from their starters. That’s a four-year window, and in that timeframe have come two first-round exits to NL West division rivals. If Yoshinobu Yamamoto doesn’t deliver tonight, then not only will it mark three straight years without advancing past the NLDS, but it will also make their gaudy investment in him for naught as it pertains to the 2024 season.
This kind of environment is where legends are made, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto is more than capable of sending the Dodgers to the NLCS tomorrow night. He’s got the repertoire and command to dissect any lineup, and there’s a reason that multiple teams across the sport were willing to offer north of $300 million for a pitcher who hadn’t thrown a single Major League pitch up to that point of his baseball career.