Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a pretty forgettable spring training, all things considered. The Japanese star pitcher was the biggest acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers outside of Shohei Ohtani. Yamamoto was highly touted as an elite pitcher, one of the best out of Japan. Everyone was excited to see Yamamoto strut his stuff in the big leagues.

However, Yamamoto had a truly dreadful spring training for the Dodgers. At one point, Yamamoto had an ERA above . It was truly bizarre: Yamamoto was allowing hits and dingers all game long. Everyone wondered what was wrong with the pitcher… and whether he'd be fine heading into the season. Thankfully, after a disastrous first game against the San Diego Padres, Yamamoto bounced back against the St. Louis Cardinals. He delivered five hitless inning in the Dodgers' win.

So, what changed for Yamamoto? Well, the Dodgers pitcher made some minor adjustments to his delivery, per ESPN. That adjustment seems to have made his delivery cleaner, leading to the better outing for the ace.

“Yamamoto made a subtle adjustment heading into his second start, keeping his hands slightly higher when he gets to a set position in his windup before breaking his right hand away from his glove to fire a pitch. It helped to sync up his delivery, Roberts said. The Dodgers, though, didn't overwhelm him with recommendations heading into his Dodger Stadium debut.”

How Dodgers are accomodating Yamamoto

Welcoming a foreign player to the MLB can be a bit tough, both for the player and the team. You want him to succeed as much as possible, but you also don't want to come off as overbearing to your star. In addition, the language barrier can make the transition pretty hard.

With Yamamoto struggling as bad as he did in Spring Training, fans wondered how the Dodgers would get through to the Japanese star. As it turns out, though, the team was pretty lax in handling the pitcher's struggles. It worked to perfection, as Yamamoto said that he felt great during the game.

“In the early stages of their relationship, they've been letting Yamamoto and his personal trainer, Osamu Yada, set the tone. Yamamoto, speaking through an interpreter, said he felt like he “had my stuff back.” He added that he didn't make many adjustments heading in but was simply “calm today.””

Yamamoto, and LA's pitching staff

The Dodgers badly need Yamamoto to be his best self for the rest of the season. Tyler Glasnow was excellent in his first start for LA, and Bobby Miller looked pretty pretty impressive himself. However, they still have a bunch of pitchers who are yet to return from injury. Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler are still on the mend with Dustin May. Tony Gonsolin won't be appearing at all this season.

The Dodgers are relying on James Paxton and Gavin Stone to fill out their rotation this season. Both players are solid, but Paxton dealt with injuries and the two aren't exactly world-beaters on the mound. Los Angeles needs Yamamoto to not give them another problem in the rotation.

Five scoreless innings against the Cardinals is a good start, but the sting of spring training and his first game in Korea still linger for Yamamoto. Can the Japanese star prove his elite status in the coming days?