LOS ANGELES — When the Dodgers scouted Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Japan, they envisioned him starting in a must-win postseason game. And once Los Angeles acquired him last offseason, Yamamoto will always be a big part of their success.
And he showed off the weapons early this season that made him one of the most coveted free agents this winter, looking like one of the best pitchers in baseball for the first two months and He recorded an ERA of 2.92. A rotator cuff injury sustained in June halted his early success and appeared to potentially end his rookie MLB season.
Three months later, after multiple MRIs, rehab, and a wait in between, Yamamoto returned to the Dodgers’ rotation on September 10, but after a long layoff, he was completely out of his element. It wasn’t. He only lasted five innings in one of his final four starts of the regular season and even had issues with slant pitches.
But on Friday, with Los Angeles’ season in jeopardy, the team needed Yamamoto’s best. With all the chips in the middle of the table and a trip to the NL CS on the line after Game 5, the Dodgers needed a $325 million man to step up.
And he did.
Yamamoto started his young career with just two hits, one walk and zero earned runs over five innings in the Dodgers’ 2-0 win over the San Diego Padres, sending LA to the NLCS for the first time since 2021.
“I didn’t do my job well in the last game,” Yamamoto said after the game, referring to his three innings and five runs in Game 1. “I tried to be ready for today’s game.”
The Dodgers’ rookie right-hander had to be outstanding in the final game of the series. Not only was the pressure maximum in a must-win game, but with Jack Flaherty struggling and the team depleting its bullpen in Game 4, Yamamoto was the best — and perhaps only — option. Ta.
From the first batter of the game, it was clear he was ready to hit 97 mph on his first pitch and give his team a chance.
“He was outstanding tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Robert said after the game. “And we knew he wasn’t going to walk away from this. We’re looking forward to having him in the World Series.”
Yamamoto’s biggest test in this game will always be Dodgers killer Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis was a thorn in the Dodgers’ side throughout the series, hitting three home runs off Los Angeles pitchers and posting a 1.759 postseason OPS through Game 5. With the Dodgers about to advance to the next round, Yamamoto had to find a way to eject the Padres superstar.
In the first matchup between the two, Yamamoto walked Tatis at bat. Tatis then fouled on two consecutive pitches and Yamamoto swung a slider, showing that the 26-year-old’s right arm was firmly in place, sending Dodger Stadium into a frenzy.
Padres manager Mike Shildt later said, “It was the best I’ve ever seen.” “I have a lot of confidence in him. The fastball looked like it had some life. … He threw to the secondary when he needed to, but we couldn’t connect anything. I thought I had survived this situation.”
Perhaps the biggest moment for Yamamoto and the Dodgers came in the third inning. The Japanese star faced the first eight batters and got through with only one walk allowed, but faced adversity in the third inning. After back-to-back one-out singles by Kyle Higashioka and Luis Arraez, who was ready to do some damage? Tatis, of course.
And after Yamamoto fell behind at a count of 3-1, the match could have changed with one swing. Instead, Yamamoto delivered his best pitch of the night, rolling Tatis with a slider and grounding out into a 5-4-3 double play. The inning is over.
“I just tried to be aggressive,” Yamamoto said.
From there, he held off Padres batters in order with a sharp No. 4 and No. 5, tying his longest start since coming off the IL on September 10. In doing so, he gave the Dodgers exactly what they needed to defeat a Padres team that looked like they had the upper hand throughout the series.
“The team gave this kid that much money…not because this isn’t a draft. He doesn’t predict he’s going to be great, he is great,” he said in the second inning. Quique Hernandez, who hit the game-winning home run, said: “And what he did tonight, that’s who he is.
“And we’re not surprised at all.”
The Dodgers are considered among baseball’s elite due to their huge payrolls and superstar talent. But don’t get me wrong. What they accomplished in this NLDS was no small feat. After Game 3, San Diego seemed to have the advantage in every way, both physically and mentally.
But that’s what makes teams accustomed to winning and routinely making the postseason so dangerous. Many teams will likely just give up after Game 3 and abandon the series in Game 4 amid the hostile environment on the road.
“Yes, we won the (National League) West, but that team is stacked, brother,” Hernandez said of the Padres. “It’s not just the rotation, but the batting lineup, the bullpen, the defense, the way they run the bases, and the way they play the game. They’re a difficult team to beat in October.”
But there’s no situation or scenario these Dodgers haven’t seen before, and their ability to play a one-game series in Games 4 and 5 showed that. Behind a rock-solid bullpen that held San Diego scoreless, over the final 24 innings of the series, they defeated the strongest opponent remaining in the postseason field.
“We know we have the ball club to turn it around,” said Teoscar Hernandez, who added the Dodgers’ second solo home run in the seventh inning. “Obviously, we didn’t get the results we wanted with the two games we lost, but we still have the same feeling we had at the start of the series.”
This series had it all: drama, star power, energy, atmosphere, and there’s no denying that it was the most intense series of this postseason so far. Now, the Dodgers have recovered from a 2-1 deficit and have a certain amount of momentum heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Mets in Game 1 of the National League CS.
“This is comparable to when we beat the Yankees in 2004 when I was a Red Sox player,” manager Dave Roberts said after his team’s victory. “To get to the World Series, it’s comparable to beating the Braves in 2020. … You’re talking about one of the best teams in baseball out there. … And it was a dogfight, and I I have nothing but respect for the people over there.
“But it says a lot about the character of our players that we won this series and we kind of took a step back and our players had so much momentum going into the postseason. There it is.”
