Yoshinobu Yamamoto will finish his World Baseball Classic stint, after all. Earlier today, there was a report that said that the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher will be leaving for Los Angeles after his scheduled start against Venezuela in the WBC playoffs. It seemed like Yamamoto was getting ahead of everyone with his preparation for the 2026 season.
Instead, Yamamoto will be staying with his team for the remainder of the tournament. Fabian Ardaya reports that the Dodgers star will be staying with Samurai Japan throughout the WBC playoffs, even after his lone start against Venezuela. Yamamoto will stay for a few more days to support Japan's quest for a back-to-back WBC title.
Samurai Japan breezed through the pool stage of the 2026 WBC classic, going 4-0 in their group. Yamamoto made one start for Japan against Chinese Taipei in the group games. The Dodgers star pitched 2 2/3 innings, not allowing a single hit while striking out two and walking three. Japan earned the top seed for their group and advanced to the playoffs.
Yamamoto will be facing a Venezuelan team filled with elite MLB hitters from all positions. From former MVP Ronald Acuna Jr, perennial hit king Luis Arraez, and great hitters like William and Willson Contreras, Eugenio Suarez, and Gleyber Torres, the Dodgers pitcher will have his hands full against this lineup. Samurai Japan is still favored in the quarterfinals, but La Vinotinto won't make it easy for them.
Samurai Japan has not decided who its starters will be for the rest of the postseason, electing to focus first on their quarterfinal matchup. Shohei Ohtani, Yamamoto's close friend and Dodgers teammate, won't be pitching in the WBC, so he's already ruled out. It's unlikely that Yamamoto makes another start for Japan in the postseason. A spot appearance as a reliever could be in the cards (Ohtani did that in the 2023 WBC Finals), but given Yamamoto's workload last season, that seems unlikely as well.
The winner of the Japan-Venezuela match will take on the winner of the Puerto Rico-Italy game. On the other side of the bracket, Team USA and Canada will face off in the quarterfinals, while Korea will try to pull off the upset against the Dominican Republic.
