The Los Angeles Dodgers’ trio of Japanese-born starters, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, made history once again with a string of strong performances this season.
Earlier in the year, the Dodgers became the first MLB team to start three Japanese-born players in a row, and they’re proving they deserve their spots on the best team in the league.
Within the last seven days, each of those three starters have delivered a shutout performance longer than five innings. This marks the first time an MLB team has had three different Japanese-born pitchers deliver a scoreless start over an entire season, and the Dodgers did it in just one week.
Yamamoto’s scoreless start wasn’t his most recent, though his eight-run outing against the Angels was spectacular. He threw 5.1 shutout innings against the Philadelphia Phillies May 31, earning a win and striking out 10 batters.
Ohtani’s start came a few days later against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he threw six innings and allowed just two hits while striking out six batters.
Sasaki followed Ohtani two days later, pitching seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts in his best MLB start to date.
How Good Has the Dodgers’ Rotation Been This Year?
As a unit, the Dodgers’ rotation has performed the best of any team across MLB this season.
Dodgers starters have a collective 2.86 ERA heading into Sunday’s series finale against the Angels, which leads the lead by a wide margin. The next closest team is the New York Yankees, who have a team ERA of 3.15 among their starters.
Over the last few weeks, though, the Dodgers have taken it to another level.
Since May 13, the Dodgers’ rotation has a 1.94 ERA, which is far better than any other team in MLB. The next closest mark is the Milwaukee Brewers, who have a 2.74 starter ERA during that time. For context, the gap between the Dodgers and Brewers is as large as the gap between the Brewers and Cleveland Guardians, who are seventh during that stretch.
Can the Dodgers’ Rotation continue performing at this level throughout the season?
