Dodgers Unveil Plan For Yoshinobu Yamamoto's First Major League Start
By Cem Yolbulan
The star-studded cast of the Los Angeles Dodgers is getting ready to kick off the 2024 season. Bolstered with the superstar additions of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the offseason, the Dodgers will have all the attention on them throughout the season. As baseball fans await in excitement as they count down the days before seeing Ohtani and Yamamoto on the same team, the Dodgers finally have a clear idea of how they want to utilize their star pitcher.
According to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, the Dodgers plan for Yamamoto to start a game in their season-opening, two-game series against the San Diego Padres in South Korea on March 20-21.
Dodgers News: Yamamoto to Start in Season Opener
"He's your height," a colleague told me after Yoshinobu Yamamoto spoke to us.
— Dylan Hernández (@dylanohernandez) February 12, 2024
My co-worker was exaggerating but not by much.
How he Yamamoto generates high-90s velocity with his slight frame has become a source of fascination in the clubhouse:https://t.co/1vYXy0fVRz
Yamamoto is making the potentially challenging transition from Japan to the MLB after signing a 12-year, $325-million deal in December. This gave the 25-year-old right-hander the longest and most lucrative pitcher contract in major league history.
There were mild concerns about Yamamoto's adjustment to the grueling MLB season. He will now be pitching once every five to six days as opposed to the once-a-week schedule he was on in Japan, which won him three consecutive Pacific League MVP awards and Eiji Sawamura Award as the league's best starting pitcher.
However, it seems like the Dodgers aren't particularly concerned about Yamamoto's transition as they chose to throw him into the fire in the opening series of the season.
This may have been partly due to the fact that Yamamoto has reportedly been extremely impressive with his spring training performance so far. In his latest bullpen session, Yamamoto attracted a crowd of about 50 front-office executives, coaches, and teammates. How he manages to throw fastballs in the high 90s despite his small 5'10" stature has been a subject of fascination all offseason, making him one of the most intriguing players in all of baseball for next season.
Fortunately, fans will not have to wait much longer as Yamamoto is scheduled to take the mound in little over a month.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has the sixth-best odds (+1500) to win the National League Cy Young award. If the reporting out of Los Angeles is to be believed, his odds might not stay that way much longer.
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