Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto Gets High Praise From Bruce Bochy, Rangers Players
It’s safe to say Yoshinobu Yamamoto impressed in his Cactus League debut on Wednesday. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ 12-year, $325 million offseason signing from the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball saw his first MLB action as the Dodgers took on the Texas Rangers.
Yamamoto pitched two innings and only faced the minimum six Rangers’ batters. Sixteen of his 19 pitches were strikes, and Yamamoto only allowed one hit. He finished off his opening performance with a terrific splitter that had the Rangers fooled and the crowd in awe.
His debut was the talk of MLB on Wednesday, and left a mark on the defending World Series champion Rangers and their manager, Bruce Bochy.
“Good stuff, I mean, that’s obvious,” Bochy said after the game. “That’s why they signed him. But this is the first time right these guys had a look at him and I think they all were impressed with the kind of stuff he has.”
Via Juan Toribio, MLB.com
It was not necessarily a surprise to see Yamamoto do so well, but it was definitely validating for the Dodgers to see their huge free agent signing show out in his first MLB action.
Rangers outfielder Evan Carter, the only player to get a hit off Yamamoto, had some high praise for the new Dodgers star.
“He’s obviously an incredible pitcher,” Carter said. “His stuff is really, really good… He throws really, really hard. He’s quick to the plate…. His splitter is probably the best pitch, but the cutter/slider combo is going to play really well… You just know he’s going to have a really good career.”
Via Bob Nightengale, USA Today
Now, the Dodgers will look forward to Yamamoto making his MLB regular season debut. Yamamoto is expected to get one of the starts for the Dodgers in their opening series in Seoul, Korea against the San Diego Padres on either March 20 or March 21. He said it would be an honor to pitch in that series.
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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