Dodgers Team News

Who is Starting Game 5 For the Dodgers? Dave Roberts Answers the Question

The Los Angeles Dodgers have forced a Game 5 in the National League Division Series against their division rivals, the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers will host Game 5 at Dodger Stadium, and their $325 million man Yoshinobu Yamamoto was expected to take the mound to try to send L.A. to the NLCS.

Not so fast, though.

On Wednesday night, after the Dodgers’ 8-0 win over the Padres, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked about his Game 5 starter.

He didn’t announce one.

“We’ve got some options,” Roberts said.

The obvious option is Yamamoto. Another would be Jack Flaherty. The Dodgers could also deploy another bullpen game, as they did in Game 4. For now, though, Roberts said he doesn’t have a starter.

In Game 1 of the series on Saturday, Yamamoto allowed five runs, five hits, one home run, and two walks with only one strikeout across three innings.

Although the Dodgers still picked up the win when he started, the 26-year-old didn’t look like the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history. He’ll almost certainly factor into the team’s Game 5. It’s just a matter of when he gets into the game.

After Yamamoto’s outing on Saturday, Roberts believed that he might’ve tipped his pitches.

“There are some things that I think we’re going to dig into, because I think at second base they had some things with his glove [that were] giving away some pitches,” Roberts said. “We’re going to clean that up. That’s part of baseball. So it’s on us to kind of clean that up and not give away what pitch he’s going to throw.”

The Japanese sensation didn’t share the same sentiment. Instead, he believes that falling behind in counts and allowing baserunners hurt him.

“I’m going to review what went wrong and what was good, and then I’m going to make it workable into the next outing,” Yamamoto said.

The Dodgers will undoubtedly need to bring their A-game if they want a date with the New York Mets in the Championship Series. It is do-or-die for the Dodgers.

Yamamoto should pitch at some point in Game 5. But Roberts is yet to announce who his official “starter” will be.

Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

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8 Comments

  1. This will be test of pitcher Yamamoto true worth!? I hope he will give it his all and his do best!!

  2. Can anyone respond as to the changing of positions for Kike and Chris between CF and 3b? Thank you kindly.

    1. I think they were just messing with the Padres. Either player can play CF or 3rd base so nothing was lost in that regard. My only beef was that I thought Taylor was playing to shallow (or he got a terrible jump) on Cronenworth’s Triple but other than that I though both played well. Kike has hit well since he got his “wonder eyers!” Maybe Taylor should get some as well… can’t hurt,..

    2. Kike is the better fielder. Fly ball pitcher — move Kike to outfield. Ground ball pitcher — move Kike to 3B.

  3. Where is this pitiful waste of space does Roberts name a starter for Game 5?
    Quite the opposite. You write- “Roberts said he doesn’t have a starter.”
    Do you need clicks that bad?

    1. Yeah, become too common. Now blocked the site and YouTube channel. Sad, it seems so unnecessary, but it must pay bills.

  4. This is why you signed the guy to the richest contract for a pitcher in history. Give him the ball and let him earn it. If not now, why did you bother? Trust your instincts.

    He’s been an excellent big game pitcher during his career, and after a rare bad outing in the first game of the NPB Japan Series last year, he was lights out the next game, so he’s mentally resilient.

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