The Los Angeles Dodgers turned to Yoshinobu Yamamoto to get them back on track after a loss, but instead, he labored through one of the worst starts of his career.
Yamamoto allowed a career-high six earned runs to the Los Angeles Angels over 4.2 innings while allowing six hits and five walks, also picking up six strikeouts along the way.
“The first-pitch home run and after that I gave up another run, and that kind of threw me off my rhythm,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter, Yoshihiro Sonoda. “As the game went on, I was trying to make a few adjustments but unfortunately I didn’t make them.”
Yamamoto felt his stuff was still good, but just couldn’t find his rhythm before his night came to an end.
The start came after the Dodgers pushed Yamamoto back one day as he was originally scheduled to pitch on Sunday. Yamamoto did not request the extra day of rest, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked if the right-hander was pushed back due to his workload or if something prompted it.
“Maybe a little bit of both,” Roberts answered. “But Yoshi feels good, and he’s always in favor okay with an extra day. So that was kind of the genesis behind that.”
Yamamoto did feel the extra day of rest was beneficial, but the greater concern would be how he feels physically.
The soon to be 27-year-old has now thrown 126.2 innings this year, which surpassed his mark from his rookie season total of 90, plus another 18.2 in the postseason.
“I think compared to previous years, my physical condition in is pretty good,” Yamamoto said.
In Japan, Yamamoto was a workhorse, surpassing 170 innings his final three seasons, and he had two other years with more than 120 innings pitched.
Yamamoto topped out at 193 innings twice, in 2021 and 2022. He tallied 193.2 the first year during that stretch.
But Yamamoto was also on a schedule of just pitching once per week throughout his entire time there. The Dodgers have kept him on a similar schedule often, but there’s also been instances where he goes on shorter rest.
The Dodgers will continue to keep an eye on his workload and communicate with Yamamoto about how he feels, because the most important thing is making sure he’s healthy for the postseason.
Yoshinbou Yamamoto comfortable on shorter rest
While Yamamoto has yet to pitch on four days of rest with the Dodgers, it’s a possibility he would feel comfortable doing so as a result of his body recovering well after each start.
The Dodgers considered putting Yamamoto on a traditional five-day schedule last year, but changed course when he went on the 15-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain.
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