Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been sidelined since the middle of June due to a right rotator cuff strain but he continues making progress toward a return to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The right-hander pitched two innings in a simulated game on Wednesday and could throw a longer one next week. “Big step. I thought he threw the baseball well,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“Second inning, command started to waver a little bit, but I still thought the stuff was really good. Very positive day for Yoshinobu. Hopefully in the next five days, he’ll do three innings and then we can send him off to a rehab. But today was a big step for him.”
After his next simulated game, Yamamoto could potentially begin a rehab assignment. That puts him on track to possibly rejoin the Dodgers in mid-September.
“I think so,” Roberts said of that being a fair timeline for Yamamoto. “Yeah, if it’s the three innings, and then he goes out and does three or four innings on rehab, and then we’ll be able to make a decision.
“So I think that’s kind of fair, which I feel given what’s happened, is a good amount of time.”
Yamamoto returning to the Dodgers in mid-September would give him roughly two weeks to prepare for the postseason. “Yeah,” Roberts answered when asked if that gives the right-hander enough time to build up.
“I mean, it’s obviously not ideal, but I still think getting him back to health and building him up is our best ballclub, so we’re going to make the most of it.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pleased with simulated game
Yamamoto believes Wednesday’s simulated game was a step in the right direction. “Those two innings, I think that was better than last time in St. Louis, and the feeling was pretty good,” Yamamoto said through his translator.
Yamamoto is confident that he will ready to start a rehab assignment after his next simulated game. “At this point, I guess everything’s coming all together,” he said.
“And then in terms of schedule, we have a rehab assignment, and then after that, we got to just go to keep communicating with the staff and the coaches.”
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