LOS ANGELES – When the Dodgers scouted Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Japan, they envisioned him starting for the team in must-win postseason games. And once Los Angeles acquired him last offseason, Yamamoto was always going to be a big part of their success.
And he arrived early this season, showing off the arsenal that made him one of the winter’s most coveted free agents and looking like one of the best pitchers in baseball through the first two months, posting a 2.92 ERA on June 15. A rotator cuff strain suffered in June appeared to halt that early success and potentially end his rookie MLB season.
Three months later, with lots of MRIs, rehab and waiting in between, Yamamoto returned to the Dodgers’ rotation on September 10, but after the long layoff, he wasn’t himself. He went five innings only once in his final four regular-season starts, and even had some trouble tipping pitches.
But on Friday, with Los Angeles’ season on the line, the team needed Yamamoto’s best. All the chips were in the middle of the table, and with a trip to the NLCS on the line in Game 5 of the NLDS, the Dodgers needed their $325 million man to step up.
And he did it.
Yamamoto kicked off his young career in the Dodgers’ 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres, pitching five innings with just two hits, one walk and zero earned runs and sending Los Angeles to the AL Series. National League championship for the first time since 2021.
“Last outing, I didn’t do my job well,” Yamamoto said afterward, referring to his three innings of five runs allowed in Game 1. “I tried to prepare for today’s game.”
The Dodgers’ rookie right-hander had to be great in the series finale. Not only was the pressure on in a must-win contest, but with Jack Flaherty struggling and the team having used the bullpen extensively in Game 4, Yamamoto was their best, and perhaps only, option.
It was clear from the first batter of the game that he was ready to give his team a chance, hitting 97 mph on his first pitch.
“He was outstanding tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Robert said after the game. “And I knew he wasn’t going to run away from that place. “I really want to ride it in the World Series.”
Yamamoto’s biggest test of the game was always going to be Dodgers killer Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis was a thorn in the Dodgers’ side throughout the series, with three home runs off Los Angeles pitchers and a postseason OPS 1,759 before Game 5. As the Dodgers were going to advance to the next round, Yamamoto had to find a way to get the Padres superstar out.
In their first-inning matchup, Yamamoto started Tatis’ at-bat with a ball. Tatis then fouled on two straight pitches before Yamamoto got him to hit a slider, showing that the 26-year-old right-hander was locked in and sending Dodger Stadium into a frenzy.
“It’s the best we’ve ever seen him,” Padres manager Mike Shildt later said. “I give him a lot of credit. The fastball seemed to have a lot of life. … He threw the secondary when he needed to, and we just couldn’t put anything together. I thought he rose to the occasion.”
Perhaps the biggest moment of the game for Yamamoto and the Dodgers came in the third inning. The Japanese star outlasted the first eight batters he faced with just one walk allowed, but in the third he faced some adversity. After back-to-back one-out singles by Kyle Higashioka and Luis Arráez, who was there, ready to do damage? Tatis, of course.
And after Yamamoto fell behind at 3-1, the game could have changed with a single hit. Instead, Yamamoto hit the best pitch of the night, getting Tatis to flip a slider into a 5-4-3 double play. Entry finished.
“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Yamamoto said.
From there, he set up the Padres hitters with a crisp fourth and fifth, matching his longest start since coming off the disabled list on September 10. In doing so, he gave the Dodgers exactly what they needed to beat a Padres team. It seemed like they had the advantage throughout the series.
“The team gave this kid so much money, not because… this isn’t the draft. It’s not that I project it’s going to be great, it is great,” said Kiké Hernández, who hit what turned out to be the game-winning home run in the second inning. “And what he did tonight, that’s what it is.
“And we’re not surprised at all.”
The Dodgers are seen as baseball’s elite, with their huge payroll and superstar talent. But make no mistake: what they accomplished in this NLDS was no small feat. San Diego seemed to have every advantage after Game 3, both physically and mentally.
But that is where a team that has become accustomed to winning and has made reaching the postseason a common occurrence is so dangerous. Many teams would have nearly folded after Game 3, likely surrendering the series in Game 4 in a hostile road environment.
“We won the West (NL), yes. But that team is good, brother,” Hernández said of the Padres. “They’re well prepared, not just the rotation, but the lineup, the bullpen, the defense, the way they run the bases and the way they play the game. “They are a difficult team to beat in October.”
However, there’s no situation or scenario these Dodgers haven’t seen, and that showed when they were able to compartmentalize and play a one-game series in Game 4 and again in Game 5. And behind a rock-solid bullpen that kept San Diego scoreless. Over the final 24 innings of the series, they defeated the best opponent left in the postseason field.
“We know we have the team that can come from behind,” said Teoscar Hernández, who added the Dodgers’ second solo homer in the seventh. “Obviously we didn’t get the results we wanted in those two games we lost, but we’re keeping our minds in the same place we were at the beginning of the series.”
This series had a little bit of everything: drama, star power, energy, atmosphere, and there’s no denying that it was the most intense series of this postseason so far. So now, after rallying from a 2-1 deficit, the Dodgers have some momentum of their own as they prepare to face the red-hot Mets on Sunday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
“This rivals 2004, when we beat the Yankees, when I was a Red Sox player,” manager Dave Roberts said after his team’s victory. “It is a rival to beat the Braves in 2020 to reach the World Series. … You’re talking about one of the best baseball teams there. …And it was a dogfight, and I have nothing but respect for the guys there.
“But winning this series like we did, falling behind, and those guys that made the postseason had a lot of momentum, it speaks to the character of our guys. “This is up to par.”