You read it here first, or at least for the first time since their rotation started crumbling like the California coastline: The Dodgers will win the World Series.
Order the rings. Schedule the parade.
The Dodgers have Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Almost six months after he pitched his first game for them, they finally have the real Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The diminutive Japanese right-hander made his long-awaited return from the injured list on Tuesday night, and he was everything the Dodgers said he would be when they signed him over the winter.
“We’ll take this every start going forward,” manager Dave Roberts said.
In a 6-3 defeat to the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium, Yamamoto struck out eight batters in four innings, the only run charged to him coming on an infield single that could have been ruled an error.
His fastball was clocked at 98 mph.
His splitter was nasty.
“I think it was a much better comeback start than I expected,” Yamamoto said in Japanese.
The roots of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s success? The choice to defy convention and be willing to adapt even at an early stage of his career with the Orix Buffaloes.
Yamamoto made it a point to mention the help he received from Clayton Kershaw, who is currently sidelined with a toe injury.
Yamamoto explained that his curveball gave him trouble in recent bullpen sessions, as well as on his minor league rehabilitation assignment, which led to him receiving a tutorial from Kershaw on the eve of his return.
“I think the main reason I was able to throw my curveball well was because of that advice,” he said. “I think that led to strikeouts.”
Something changed during the 12 weeks Yamomoto spent on the injured list with a shoulder injury, enough to make him look like an entirely different pitcher from the one who experienced ups and downs in his previous 14 starts.
Suddenly, the $325-million acquisition whom the Dodgers didn’t think they could count on looked as if he was the team’s No. 1 starter. Suddenly, he looked as if he was the game changer the Dodgers failed to acquire at the trade deadline, the kind of pitcher who could lead them to their first full-season championship in 36 years.
“I think the feel I had today was some of the best I’ve had this year,” Yamamoto said.
Just as important as the results was his mound presence.
Yamamoto, who is listed at only 5 foot 10, towered above every other player on the field. He didn’t behave like a first-year major leaguer looking to prove that he could hold his own against superior competition. He looked like an All-Star who expected to dominate his opponents. He looked the way he did when he pitched in Japan for the Orix Buffaloes.
He attacked.
In his return from the injured list, Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out eight in four innings, but bad defense led to the Dodgers losing to the Cubs.
“I think with Yoshinobu, he’s very aware of where we’re at and the value that he brings to our ball club,” Roberts said. “So I really like the focus from him. There’s a sense of urgency. And he realizes that he’s got three more starts now to be as finely tuned as he could possibly be and built up. So that’s something that I feel really confident with, and that’s the maturity that he has, because he’s pitching a lot of big ball games throughout his career as well.”
The game was a major event in his home country, but not necessarily because Yamamoto was returning or because he was matched up against another Japanese pitcher in Cubs starter Shota Imanaga. The game was a major event in his home country because four Japanese players were in the game and one of them was Shohei Ohtani. (Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki was the fourth player.) The last time four Japanese players were in the same game was on May 4, 2007, when the New York Yankees played the Seattle Mariners.
If Yamamoto can continue pitching like this, the Dodgers will reclaim their status as World Series favorites. If he can continue pitching like this, they will have a very legitimate chance to win the 11 games they have to win to capture baseball’s ultimate prize.
These are major “ifs,” as well as significant qualifiers to the World Series prediction made at the start of this column.
The last time Yamamoto threw as hard was in early June against the Yankees. He lasted only two innings in his next start and was placed on the injured list.
Then again, he threw 13 sliders in that start at Yankee Stadium, a pitch he avoided throwing in Japan because he thought it resulted in elbow pain. Yamamoto threw only one slider in his return.
Yamamoto is expected to pitch three more times in the regular season, which should provide him with enough work to be sufficiently stretched out for the playoffs.
Pitching injuries are up across the sport, but no organization has been hit harder than the Dodgers, who believe there are myriad factors potentially at play.
He is scheduled to pitch next on Monday against the Atlanta Braves near one of the seven Waffle Houses in Cobb County. His pitch count will be increased to 75. His team will theoretically move one step closer to the World Series.
The Dodgers have a historic lineup featuring three former MVPs at the top of the order. They have a reliable starter in Jack Flaherty, and they have Kershaw now looking as if he will return from a toe injury.
What they were lacking was a No. 1 starter. They found him on Tuesday night.
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