Los Angeles Dodgers fans were excited to see what Yoshinobu Yamamoto had in store for his spring training debut after Shohei Ohtani homered in his first ever game with the team on Tuesday. Ohtani's spring training debut was clearly a success, and the same can be said for Yamamoto's on Wednesday.

The Dodgers new star pitcher surrendered just one hit across two innings of work against the Texas Rangers. He added three strikeouts and did not allow a single walk.

So the statistics are obviously encouraging. But how did Yamamoto look exactly throughout the game?

Yoshinobu Yamamoto impresses to begin Dodgers career

Yamamoto made a statement early by striking out Rangers star Marcus Semien to open the game. The strikeout came on a fastball that was middle-in. It was in a hittable location, but Yamamoto opted to challenge Semien and he won the battle.

Evan Carter then singled to center field. Yamamoto rebounded nicely by getting top prospect Wyatt Langford to ground into an inning ending double-play.

Yamamoto looked sharp in his first inning of work, but was even better in the second. He struck out Nathaniel Lowe to open the inning on a pitch in the dirt before getting Jonah Heim to fly out. Yamamoto's day came to an end after striking out Leody Taveras.

The strikeouts of Lowe and Taveras came via Yamamoto's splitter, a pitch that many believe can be an elite weapon for him. The bottom completely falls out after it looks straight coming out of his hand. Lowe and Taveras were clearly fooled on each delivery, video via the Dodgers.

Final thoughts

I made the same point about Ohtani's debut on Tuesday, but it needs to be remembered that this was just one game. With that being said, Yamamoto was certainly dealing with pressure to make a strong early impression with his new team. It is safe to say he accomplished that goal.

Yamamoto throws a number of pitches, but his fastball and splitter stood out. If he's able to consistently work those pitches off of each other throughout the 2024 season, Yamamoto may find himself in the National League Cy Young conversation.