While theLos Angeles Dodgers face criticism for their massive MLB investment to achieve the results they’ve earned, Yoshinobu Yamamoto‘s performance steals the spotlight after pitching a brilliant game against the Toronto Blue Jays, leaving Clayton Kershaw in awe and prompting thoughts that he could set a new standard for the future of MLB.
A Performance That Could Reinvent All of MLB
It was nine complete innings in which the Japanese pitcher allowed just four hits and one run in his second consecutive complete game this postseason. This marks the first time a pitcher has thrown consecutive complete games in the playoffs since Curt Schilling in 2001.
In light of this, his teammate Clayton Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, noted that it was unpredictable and invites a return to epic matchups between starting pitchers.
“I don’t think anybody could have predicted that,” Kershaw told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale after the game. “But, you know, maybe it’s a sign of where baseball should, and will get back to. I think it’s always fun to have great starting pitching matchups, and to see him go deep into games, maybe this gives some people some ideas for the future, hopefully.”
It was the same Bob Nightengale who stated that Yamamoto brought back “a golden age of pitching.”
Even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts admitted he didn’t think the Japanese pitcher would go beyond six innings last Saturday, which only drew more praise from his manager.
“Outstanding, uber competitive, special,” Roberts told reporters. “Yeah, he was just locked in tonight. It was one of those things he said before the series, losing is not an option, and he had that look tonight.”
Yamamoto is only in his second season in Major League Baseball and has already appeared in his second World Series. Before arriving in the majors, he spent seven years playing professional baseball in Japan and was part of the Japanese team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
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