$325 million ace dominates with Ohtani’s support
SURPRISE, Ariz. – Here he was, a few months after touring the country as the most sought-after pitcher in baseball, signing the largest contract for a pitcher in history, facing the defending World Series champions in his Los Angeles Dodgers’ debut Wednesday – and the dude didn’t even break a sweat.
So, just what was Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s feelings after overwhelming the Texas Rangers in front of 7,714 fans at Surprise Stadium?
“Relief.”
And what was teammate and countryman Shohei Ohtani’s assessment of Yamamoto’s performance? “So-so.”
Yamamoto laughed. Really, he was taken aback and honored, he said, that Ohtani decided to take the 30-minute drive in his convertible from the Dodgers spring training complex to see him in action.
“What a good teammate,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s something that he didn’t have to do clearly. But he wanted to come here and support his teammate. So, for a guy like Yoshinobu to come here, and have the support of his own countrymen and his teammates, and obviously a good turnout of Dodger fans, it was pretty special. Really awesome.”
Yamamoto, after dominating competition in Japan for the past seven years, acted as if nothing changed as he faced the Rangers. Throwing a mixture of 9496 mph fastballs, curveballs, split-fingers and cutters, he needed just 19 pitches in his two-inning outing.
He threw 16 of those pitches for strikes, striking out three batters, including All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien to open the game. The only base runner he allowed was a soft single by Evan Carter.
“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 cutterslider combo is going to play really well.”
The pitch sequence to Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to open the second inning actually drew gasps from the crowd.
Yamamoto started him off with a 94 mph fastball that he took for strike 1. He came back with a 74 mph curveball for strike 2. And sent him back to the bench with a 90 mph splitter for strike 3.
It was the kind of first impression that players dream of, particularly when you’re in a foreign country, throwing a new baseball, and against the finest competition in the land.
“I don’t think it could have went any better than we had hoped,” Roberts said. “He got to use his entire pitch mix. He was pounding the strike zone. He got a lot of swing-and-miss. He was efficient.
“So, I think for us, Shohei making his debut [Tuesday], Yoshinobu making his debut today, very, very exciting times right now.”
Yet as Yamamoto, 25, kept reminding everyone, it’s only spring training.
“I was trying to do my job, trying to stay calm, and then focus on what I have to do,” Yamamoto said. “So, that was good. Let’s see how I do as I get more innings.”