Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described Yoshinobu Yamamoto as an artist, pointing to pitching being his best skill. A few hours later, Yamamoto created a big league-level masterpiece.
In the first true road game of his Major League career, Yamamoto picked up right where he left off in his last start, striking out eight and permitting only three hits over five scoreless innings, leading the Dodgers to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley Field.
Yamamoto also scored his first win in the Majors. After the game, as he prepared to answer questions from the media, he was summoned by Mookie Betts for his first-ever beer shower.
“I think Yoshi’s awesome,” said Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes. “I think he’s going to be fine. He’s pitched great against the Cardinals and pitched well today. When he gets his feet under him, I think he’ll be one of the best pitchers in this game.”
After one of the worst starts of his professional career in Seoul, South Korea against the San Diego Padres, was just one inning, Yamamoto proved why he was the most sought-after pitcher on the market this winter. Over his last two starts, Yamamoto has punched out 13 and has not given up a run in his 10 innings.
“He’s been good. And you know, it’s what we expected,” said Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy. “That’s what everyone expected when you talk about the kind of contract that he got. But it’s been fun to watch.”
The outing did not get off a good fitting for Yamamoto as Chicago loaded up the bases in the first inning with nobody out. After the early traffic, Yamamoto delivered the best escape job of his short big-league career. He struck out Christopher Morel, Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch in a row to strand the bases loaded.
Once he froze Busch on a curveball on the outside corner, Yamamoto let out a roar heard throughout a silent Wrigley Field.
“Well, I think he just didn’t want a repeat of Seoul. You could see it,” Roberts. “He got off to a slower start there and found a way to reach back and limit or have no damage in that inning. For him to hold his stuff, his stuff was still good at 81 pitches in the fifth inning. There’s just a lot of fight. Great competitor.”
In the second, Yamamoto escaped another bases-loaded jam by striking out Cody Bellinger looking. That was the last chance for the Cubs against Yamamoto on Saturday, as he retired the 10 batters he faced.
Yamamoto delivered a four-seam fastball at 97 mph and a curveball considered among the best in the league from a right-handed pitcher. The Japanese phenom got 13 swings and misses on Saturday. That is the most in a match over his first three starts in his Major League career.
“There’s some plus offspeed in there, certainly. It’s a full package,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. “I mean, he’s got four plus pitches. So he’s going to be a challenge for sure. We pressured him in the first two innings, but unfortunately, we couldn’t break through. And then he got into a rhythm, which is unfortunately what happens against the good ones, right?”
After his start against the Padres, there were some nerves and concerns about how good Yamamoto could be at this level. It was only one start, of course, but that is what happens when a club signs the biggest contract for a pitcher in Major League history.
But over his last two starts, Yamamoto is showing exactly why he won the pitching Triple Crown in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League each of the past three seasons.
“The season is long. We have a long way to go,” Yamamoto said. “I just took it one game at a time and focused on one game.”
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