Yoshinobu Yamamoto Pitching Like Best Of Career In Japan

Fresh off being named National League Pitcher of the Month for March/April, Yoshinobu Yamamoto turned in another excellent start to help the Los Angeles Dodgers begin their longest road trip of the season with a win against the Atlanta Braves.

The right-hander allowed just one hit and collected six strikeouts against two walks over six scoreless innings on 91 pitches.

Yamamoto improved to 4-2 with an MLB-best 0.90 ERA, 2.23 FIP, 0.93 WHIP and 11 strikeouts per nine in 40 innings pitched across seven starts this season. He has gone at least five innings in every outing while allowing two or fewer earned runs.

Yamamoto has been happy with his performance thus far and compared it to the peak of his career pitching in Japan, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:

“I’ve been able to perform at a very high level,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “I think it’s really close to my best times in Japan. … I’m the type of pitcher that I usually attack the strike zone all the time with all my pitches. So that’s what I think it is.”

Yamamoto posted a 70-29 record with a 1.82 ERA and 922 strikeouts in 172 games during his seven-year stint with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Yamamoto enjoyed what was arguably his most successful year with the Buffaloes in 2023 when he went 17-6 with a 1.21 ERA, 0.86 WHIP over 24 games. He captured a third consecutive Eiji Sawamura Award, which is the NPB equivalent of the Cy Young.

If Yamamoto keeps pitching at his current pace, he will be the odds-on favorite to win his first Cy Young Award at the end of the year. Yamamoto is looking to become the first Japanese-born pitcher to earn the honor.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s next start

Yamamoto has made all seven of his starts this season on six days of rest, but that will likely change when he next takes the mound.

The 26-year-old is expected to start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, which would be on one fewer day of rest. Such is necessary due to the Dodgers being in the middle of a stretch of 10 consecutive games without an off day and injuries to their rotation.

Yamamoto made 11 of his 18 starts on five days of rest during the 2024 season. His other seven outings came with six days of rest.