Yoshinobu Yamamoto struggled in his MLB debut against the San Diego Padres during the Seoul Series last year, but otherwise had a productive first half of the 2024 season as a Los Angeles Dodgers rookie.
Yamamoto was in the middle of an impressive stretch when he went on the 15-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain. That came one day after he was removed from a start against the Kansas City Royals on June 15 due to triceps tightness.
The injury cost Yamamoto roughly three months of his rookie season. He was transferred to the 60-day IL on July 13 and did not make his next MLB start until Sept. 10.
Yamamoto set a goal to stay healthy for the entire 2025 season and help the Dodgers repeat as World Series champions, via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
“Last year I spent three months rehabilitating,” Yamamoto said in Japanese. “This year I want to do my best to contribute to the team for the entire season and to become world champions again.”
Yamamoto wound up making four starts upon returning last September and ended the regular season on a high note. He finished 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 2.61 FIP, 1.11 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine in 90 innings pitched over 18 starts.
Yamamoto went on to post a 3.86 ERA and 0.96 WHIP with 15 strikeouts against six walks in four postseason starts.
He is now set to be part of a revamped 2025 Dodgers rotation that should include newcomers Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, as well as Tyler Glasnow and eventually Shohei Ohtani.
Dodgers considered changing Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s schedule
Before Yamamoto’s shoulder injury, the Dodgers considered putting him on a traditional pitching schedule.
“Yeah, we talked about it a lot in Spring Training of kind of phases of the assimilation process,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman answered when asked if the team gave thought to putting Yamamoto on a five-day schedule during the 2024 season.
“Him missing the time he did made that more challenging. And then it became about when he got back, was just trying to build up pitch count as much as we could in that time period. And then even looking ahead to next year, just that urgency wasn’t the same with potentially adding Shohei into the rotation.
“That urgency to do it wasn’t the same as we got there. But had he not missed the time, I’m sure we would have at some point. But we are where we are.”
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