The Los Angeles Dodgers made a significant splash in free agency during this past offseason when they signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a record-breaking 12-year, $325 million contract.
Yamamoto’s contract represented the richest deal for a pitcher in MLB history.
The Dodgers considered the right-hander an ace, even if needing to plan on keeping Yamamoto on his Nippon Professional Baseball Organization pitching schedule as he adjusted to Major League Baseball.
The Dodgers gave Yamamoto at least one extra day of rest between starts all season long and have not deviated from that schedule even with the heightened stakes of the postseason. That included the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres in which Yamamoto made starts in Games 1 and 5 on his normal schedule.
Try as the team did, Yamamoto’s transition had a bump in the road as a right rotator cuff strain kept him out for a significant amount of time. He returned in time to make four starts during September and now his helping lead the Dodgers’ postseason rotation.
Yamamoto’s first career MLB postseason start was not the stuff dreams of as he allowed five earned runs and five hits in just three innings of work.
He bounced back against the Padres in Game 5 of the NLDS, going toe to toe with Yu Darvish for a historic matchup between Japanese pitchers.
But the Dodgers needing all five games in the NLDS invariably delayed when they would be able to utilize Yamamoto against the New York Mets.
When will Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitch in NLCS?
Yamamoto is going to get the start for the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS. It is shaping up to be a night at Citi Field in which the Dodgers could take a 3-1 series lead or be looking to avoid such a deficit.
That’s also tracking to be Yamamoto’s only start in the best-of-seven series because of his current schedule.
“Yeah, it’s one of those things for Yamamoto versus any other starter, their regular routine is their regular routine. And any deviation would be short rest. He hasn’t done that. So I think, to your point, we’ll probably keep him on track,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Despite a limitation on how many starts Yamamoto can make in the NLCS, his Game 4 outing could see a longer leash.
“Yoshi just hasn’t been into the fifth inning in quite some time. Then you’re layering on postseason high-intensity pitches, and you’ve got guys behind him, all that stuff played a factor in my decision-making,” Roberts explained of removing Yamamoto after five innings in Game 5 of the NLDS.
“But going forward, and now he’s going to check that box. If he continues to throw the ball the way he did, certainly I would keep extending him.”
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