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Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw five innings of one-run ball on Tuesday morning as the Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs, 4-1, in game one of the Tokyo Series. With a fastball that hit 98 and a splitter that baffled Chicago hitters, Yamamoto impressed his manager.
Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts has been around the game long enough to know that one start does not make a season. Still, he couldn't hold back his excitement.
“I think last year to this year, the confidence and conviction he has throwing the fastball in the strike zone is night and day,” Roberts said after the game. “If he can continue to do that, I see no reason he won't be in the Cy Young conversation this season.”
Yamamoto missed significant time last year with a rotator cuff injury, but in 18 starts, he flashed why the Dodgers were willing to pay the $50 million posting fee to acquire him last year. He went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA. Yamamoto kept it up into October, following up a poor first start against the San Diego Padres in the Division Series with three more in which he went 15.2 innings and yielded just three runs.
The Dodgers made him the team's Opening Day starter for 2025 with new acquisition Roki Sasaki set to start game two against the Cubs.
The Dodgers are handling early injuries in Tokyo Series
All has gone according to plan on the mound for the Dodgers, but that hasn't been the case in the batting order. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts both sat out; Freeman is dealing with an injury to the same rib that hampered him late last season, while Betts is battling an illness that has caused him to lose almost 15 pounds.
“I thought we made the right decision not playing him tonight, and we'll see how he comes in tomorrow,” Roberts said of Freeman, per MLB.com's Sonja Chen. “So right now, I'm not too concerned.”
Freeman also eased fans' concerns by saying this injury is not as bad as last year's.
“Obviously, way better than last year. Last year, I needed help getting to my car that first day. I can walk. I can take deep breaths. Just felt a little something in my rib, and with it being the first game, we didn’t want it to be something lingering. So hopefully treat it today, come in tomorrow and see how it is.”
As for Betts, his illness is not believed to be contagious and he participated in workouts with the team before its exhibition games in Tokyo. Chen reports that he is feeling “much better,” though he will also sit out the team's second game.
