The Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation is full of aces.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is making $325 million. Blake Snell is making $182 million. Tyler Glasnow is making $136.5 million. Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star, is making $700 million.
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While all four of these players have already established themselves among the game’s best pitchers, they know there’s always room to grow.
Fortunately for them, they had the honor of sharing a rotation with one of the game’s best all time pitchers in Clayton Kershaw. The future Hall of Famer announced he’s retiring at the end of this season, giving his teammates one last season to learn from the best.
Yamamoto, who’s getting ready for a Wild Card Game 2 start on Wednesday, revealed what he learned from his Hall of Fame teammate.
“First, one thing I learned from him, of course, is technical things when you face a hitter — how to think and how to attack them,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter. “And another thing is how to bring the energy into the one game.”
Yamamoto joined the Dodgers last offseason on the richest deal for a pitcher in MLB history at 12 years and $325 million. While he had a solid rookie season — going 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA across 90 innings — he leveled up in Year 2.
Yamamoto made 30 starts this season, going 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA and 201 strikeouts across 173.2 innings. He’s going to earn top-three Cy Young votes, and will play a crucial role for LA in their quest to become baseball’s first repeat champion in 25 years.
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As for Kershaw, he’s not on the Wild Card roster, but manager Dave Roberts confirmed he’ll be on the team’s roster for the NLDS assuming they advance past the Cincinnati Reds.
Kershaw was as dominant as ever in 2025, going 11-2 with a 3.36 ERA across 112.2 innings. He’ll likely work out of the bullpen in the potential NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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