The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second consecutive World Series due in large part to Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s historic 2025 postseason.
The right-hander went the distance in Game 2 and then earned the win in two consecutive elimination matchups on the road against the Toronto Blue Jays. He tossed 2.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in a winner-take-all Game 7 just one day after getting through six in a start.
Yamamoto has now won World Series titles in each of his first two seasons with the Dodgers. He won the championship game as a member of Samurai Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and the Japan Series with the Orix Buffaloes the year before that.
During an appearance on “Baseball & Coffee” with Adam Ottavino, Los Angeles Dodgers free agent Kiké Hernández called Yamamoto a winner and shared how much he enjoyed hearing how determined he was to avoid losing:
“He did six years over there? I think that’s how it works with the posting system. Either six or seven. And he’s got his two years here. He has won the championship more than half of his years at the big league level, whether in Japan or the U.S. The guy is a winner. He wins everywhere he goes. He won the WBC. The guy is a winner. That quote, ‘Losing is not an option,’ when he said that [expletive] in the press conference, I had the goosebumps. I was like, ‘Oh, baby. Talk dirty to me. I freaking love this [expletive].’ That’s Yama.”
Yamamoto famously told his teammates that “losing is not an option” before his complete game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
The message resonated throughout the Dodgers’ clubhouse as Hernández wore a t-shirt with the words on it before the team’s Game 7 matchup at Rogers Centre.
Yamamoto lived up to that mantra as he posted a 1.02 ERA and 0.68 WHIP with 15 strikeouts against two walks in 17.2 innings across his three appearances against the Blue Jays en route to being named World Series MVP.
Kiké Hernández impressed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s routine
When Yamamoto made the jump to Major League Baseball two years ago, he brought with him one of the most unique training routines for any pitcher.
Yamamoto does not lift weights and rather focuses on a combination of breathing, flexibility and yoga-style drills.
The 27-year-old also notably uses javelins to train the correct throwing path and force transfer from the ground up in an effort to reduce stress on his arm.
During the same podcast appearance, Hernández marveled at Yamamoto’s training routine and believes it has held up so far.
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