The Los Angeles Dodgers made a considerable investment in shoring up their starting rotation the past two offseasons as they swung for the fences with lucrative contracts for Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell.
While the Dodgers have had some difficulty getting the most out of their commitment to Glasnow so far and it’s too early to make a determination on Snell, they’ve hit it out of the park with their signing of Yamamoto.
The right-hander went through his fair share of growing pains last season coming over from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), but he still helped lead them to a World Series title. Now in 2025, Yamamoto has developed into the dominant pitcher the Dodgers were hoping for when they signed him to the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history.
Yamamoto’s outings have been invaluable this season, especially for a team with a starting rotation in flux. According to Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts views Yamamoto in the same light as the best pitchers in baseball and ace of the staff:
“He’s turning himself into a staff ace,” Roberts said. “And you know, when you look at the handful of guys in the big leagues, that when they take the ball, that you know they’re going to go six innings, you’re going to get a chance to win, a good chance to win, they can manage some stress, they’re always the best option. He’s putting himself in that category.”
Yamamoto has been worth every penny of his 12-year, $325 million contract as he leads the Majors in ERA and has gone at least five innings in each outing this season while allowing two or fewer earned runs.
He is also top-10 in MLB in terms of strikeouts and WHIP, while also striking out an impressive 32% of batters faced this season, leaving an impression on Will Smith:
“Right now, he’s pitching like the best pitcher in the world,” catcher Will Smith said.
Since joining the Dodgers, the organization has tried to protect Yamamoto by having him pitch on six days of rest whenever possible. But with the Dodgers facing a pitching shortage and playing 10 games in 10 days, there’s a good chance Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki will be asked to pitch on five days of rest this week.
Yamamoto made 11 of his 18 starts on five days of rest last season, with the other seven coming with six days of rest.
How Yoshinobu Yamamoto compares to performances in Japan
Yamamoto credits his second-year jump to getting back to what made him a successful pitcher while in the NPB. He compared his first seven starts of 2025 to the peak of his career pitching in Japan.
Yamamoto posted a 70-29 record with a 1.82 ERA and 922 strikeouts in 172 games during his seven-year stint with the Orix Buffaloes.
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