Yoshinobu Yamamoto added onto what’s been an impressive 2025 season with a dominant performance against the Atlanta Braves to help the Los Angeles Dodgers begin their longest road trip of the year with a win.
The right-hander’s outing came on six days of rest, which the Dodgers have attempted to consistently provide Yamamoto with as it mirrors the schedule he was accustomed to while starring in Japan.
But as the Dodgers continue their road trip, manager Dave Roberts noted that Yamamoto’s next start will likely come one five days of rest, via Rick Farlow of MLB.com:
“There is a very good possibility that he’s going to go a day shorter than he normally does.”
With the Dodgers likely adjusting Yamamoto’s schedule, it puts him on track to start the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. Roki Sasaki is likely to see the same change and thus pitch on Friday instead of what’s been his usual turn every Saturday.
Last season, Yamamoto made 11 of his 18 starts on five days of rest. His other seven outings came with six days of rest.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman revealed the team was prepared to shift Yamamoto into more of a traditional MLB pitcher schedule during his rookie season but that plan was abandoned when he suffered a right shoulder injury.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto ‘right decision’ for NL Pitcher of the Month
Roberts believes MLB got it right with Yamamoto taking home the National League Pitcher of the Month award for March/April, and previously went as far as deeming the right-hander as the best pitcher in the league.
Yamamoto became the first Dodgers starter to earn NL Pitcher of the Month honors since Clayton Kershaw in April 2023.
With his win against the Braves, Yamamoto improved to 4-2 with an MLB-best 0.90 ERA, 2.23 FIP, 0.93 WHIP and 11 strikeouts per nine in 40 innings pitched across seven starts this season. He has gone at least five innings in every outing while allowing two or fewer earned runs.
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