In Game 3 of the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers came a Freddie Freeman walkoff home run away from trotting out Game 2 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto to pitch the 19th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Now, to anyone who didn't watch the six hour tour de force, that sounds like a downright ridiculous statement, but then again, watching two teams effectively play two games in a row deep into the night is pretty inherently ridiculous, so why not send Yamamoto out on two nights rest when he doesn't have to pitch until Friday if the series lasts that long?
But what would have happened if Yamamoto took care of business in the top of the 19th and the Dodgers couldn't score in the bottom? Would he have gone out for the 20th? Or would the Dodgers have turned to another option with all of their bullpen arms spent?
Well, before Game 4, Dave Roberts commented on just that, letting fans know that the ball would have gone to Miguel Rojas, with Hyeseong Kim presumably taking over his spot at second base, as reported by The Athletic's Davian Ardaya.
“If Yamamoto couldn’t have taken the ball in the 19th, it would’ve been Miguel Rojas…it would’ve been Yamamoto or Miguel Rojas in a World Series game,” Roberts explained via Ardaya.
Now unsurprisingly, considering the Dodgers are one of just three teams to have played into the 18th inning of a World Series game, no team has ever sent out a position player to throw the 19th or 20th inning of a World Series game. Fortunately, the Dodgers didn't have to, as Freeman was able to take care of business and save Rojas from having to truly make history for all the wrong reasons.
