The first Major League Baseball start for Dodgers rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto didn’t exactly go as planned. He started the second of two games in Seoul, South Korea, between the Dodgers and Padres and was bounced after just three recorded outs, having allowed five runs on four hits with a walk, hit batsman and two strikeouts. Whatever term we wanted to apply on his pitches — command, control, location — it wasn’t good.
Saturday, in his Dodger Stadium debut, Yamamoto got the opportunity to bounce back and he did exactly that against a talented Cardinals offense. A rain delay threw a wrench into things, but Yamamoto still got through five innings of work.
In his five scoreless innings, Yamamoto didn’t walk or hit anyone. He allowed only two hits while striking out five. He was moderately efficient, needing 68 pitches (45 strikes) to get through his five innings compared to the 43 he threw in one inning last time out.
Yamamoto relied mostly on the fastball, splitter and curve with a few cutters thrown in. He set things up with the heater while using the splitter and curve as his out pitches. The splitter drew eight swings with four of those being whiffs, but the curveball was his most impressive offering. He threw it 18 times, drawing six called strikes and six swings, with four of those swings being whiffs.
Of course, that aforementioned splitter was on point, too. Just ask 2022 NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt:
Yamamoto, 25, is in the first year of a 13-year, $325 million deal. That deal made him the sport’s richest pitcher after he spent the first part of his career shining in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league.
