Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for the Dodgers in the World Series against the Yankees and showed why he’s a top pitcher.
In his debut on this grand stage, Yamamoto pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one run from a hit and two walks, while striking out four batters, including Aaron Judge twice. This performance justified the Dodgers’ decision to sign him for $325 million before he had even played in Major League Baseball.
At 26 years old, Yamamoto faced injuries this season that limited him to 18 starts. Yet when healthy, he boasted a 3.00 ERA and an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.77. His stellar career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league saw him win three MVP awards and the Eiji Sawamura Award—Japan’s version of MLB’s Cy Young Award.
Game Highlights:
What made his Game 2 performance shine? He managed to get batters swinging and missing a dozen times during his outing. His fastball averaged around 95.6 mph; paired with his lethal splitter and curveball, they accounted for nine of those swings-and-misses .
The fastball-splitter combo is particularly tricky because they move similarly sideways but differ in speed and drop—making it tough for hitters to predict them accurately. Check out this Twitter clip that shows why it’s so effective:
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 94mph Fastball and 91mph Splitter, Overlay
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja)
His curveball also deserves mention; it caused opponents to miss over a third of their swings during regular games, holding them to just a .214 average! On Saturday night, Yamamoto even threw eight sliders—a pitch he rarely used throughout the season.
Fans might be thinking that if he keeps pitching like this, there’s no telling how far he’ll go!
Perhaps most surprising was how deep into the game he went—reaching into the seventh inning with 86 pitches thrown—a feat unseen since June due to injury setbacks.
If Game 2 ends up being Yamamoto’s last start of this year (though he’s set up for Game 6), it was certainly memorable. The Dodgers hope there’s more magic left in his arm as they eye a championship title .
Do you think Yamamoto can help lead them all the way?
