Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto Has MLB Teams Wondering What Could’ve Been
Los Angeles Dodgers star Yoshinobu Yamamoto has risen to the highest tier of MLB starting pitchers, leaving at least a handful of franchises wondering why they didn’t pursue him more aggressively in 2023.
In Saturday’s Game 2 of the World Series, Yamamoto pulled off his second-consecutive complete game victory this playoffs, allowing four hits and one run across 105 pitches to a Toronto Blue Jays lineup that entered the game scorching hot.
Now, Toronto’s momentum has been completely halted entering Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, thanks to Yamamoto.
Per Stathead’s Katie Sharp, Yamamoto is now just the sixth pitcher in MLB history to pitch back-to-back games in a single playoffs with nine-plus innings pitched, four hits or fewer allowed, and one run or fewer allowed, joining Steve Blass (1971), Jim Lonborg (1967), Sandy Koufax (1965), Orval Overall (1908), and Christy Mathewson (1905).
With Yamamoto looking like one of the five best starting pitchers in baseball lately, fans of big-market teams that had a chance to bid on Yamamoto in 2023 are kicking themselves.
While it might seem like Yamamoto to LA was a foregone conclusion, nothing is stopping some the team’s richest franchises from outbidding the Dodgers for a given player.
It’s fruitless to some extent to keep wondering about what could have been with Yamamoto. The 27-year-old is locked in with LA for the long haul, and he’s positioned to be a cornerstone of a developing dynasty for the Dodgers in the years to come.