by Megan Garcia
Even before last season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was familiar with big-game settings. He has pitched for his country in the World Baseball Classic and Olympics. He also struck out 14 batters in a single game during the Nippon Professional Baseball league’s Japan Series (the league’s equivalent to the World Series).
But last year was a different environment — the Major League postseason.
Postseason conquered. Yamamoto’s NLDS Game 5 and World Series Game 2 starts were instrumental in the Dodgers’ becoming World Series champions.
Now he’s tasked with doing it all over again.
“Having the last year’s postseason under my belt, I think because I’m more calm this year, and I’m able to have good preparation going into the postseason this year,” Yamamoto said. “And I feel more confident.”
Yamamoto’s first test is Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series on Wednesday against the Reds. He could help send the Dodgers to the National League Division Series.
The Dodgers know they have the right guy to put them in that position.
“I think that if you’re talking about a player from last year to this year, I’d probably say he’s number one on the growth chart,” said manager Dave Roberts. “Considering coming over here and trying to get his feet wet, trying to learn the culture, the game, the hitters, create a routine for himself, to then be a really big-game pitcher.”
The right-hander’s introduction to the Major League postseason wasn’t ideal, though. He allowed five runs in three innings against the Padres in Game 1 of the 2024 NLDS.
Yamamoto turned things around soon after.
“In terms of experience from last year, I think that’s helping me to maintain composure (and) calmness,” Yamamoto said. “I think I’m more comfortable getting into this postseason.”
He allowed three earned runs over his next three starts (15 2/3 innings) for a 1.72 ERA with 14 strikeouts.
He finished the postseason with two wins, the last being in Game 2 of the World Series when he allowed one earned run in 6 1/3 innings.
During his sophomore season, Yamamoto led MLB with a .182 opposing batting average. When he faced the Reds on July 28, he allowed four hits in seven innings in the 5–2 Dodger win. The lone run they scored against Yamamoto was an RBI double by Gavin Lux.
“Even though I got the result from the last outing against them, their lineup is good. They’ve got (speed), and they’ve got the great contact hitters,” Yamamoto said.
Yamamoto comes into this game on a roll. He was the National League’s Pitcher of the Month for September.
He made four starts and allowed two earned runs over 27 innings (0.67 ERA) in September. Only Orel Hershiser in 1988 (0.00 ERA in six starts) and Derek Lowe (0.59 ERA in five starts) had better September ERAs with at least four starts in LA Dodger history.
2025 Wild Card: Yamamoto is ready for his second Dodger postseason act was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.