From his first bullpen session this spring, there seemed to be something different about Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
“I think he’s just comfortable,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said this spring, putting his finger squarely on it. “It’s a similar situation that we all go through – new environment, language barrier at times. I think 12 months, having the experience of last year – winning a World Series doesn’t hurt.
“But he’s just comfortable and confident. … That’s really the difference whereas last year there was some uncertainty – as there should be. Trying to figure out which is Field 1 and 2 (at Camelback Ranch). Just simple things like that. Even for our minor-leaguers and young guys, just having that ‘been-there, done-that’ type of thing puts those apprehensions at ease. Then he can just let his talent do what he does. That’s been the thing. He’s comfortable and confident. He knows he belongs. He pitched at an extremely high level on the big stages last year.”
Yamamoto certainly looked comfortable at the Tokyo Dome last week. He held the Chicago Cubs to one run on three hits over five innings, winning the season-opening game. He will take the mound again Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
His Tokyo performance was a far cry from last year’s worrisome MLB debut in South Korea.
Signed to the biggest contract ever given to a pitcher (who doesn’t also DH) despite never having thrown a pitch in the major leagues, Yamamoto made his major-league debut in the Dodgers’ second game against the San Diego Padres in Seoul. To say it didn’t go well would be putting it mildly.
Yamamoto’s first pitch as a major-leaguer was ripped for a 105.4-mph single by Xander Bogaerts. And things went downhill from there. Yamamoto lasted just one inning, allowing five runs on four hits and a walk. He hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and needed 43 water-torture pitches just to get three outs.
A career launch like that – with the anchor of a 12-year, $325 million contract weighted around his neck – could have crushed the confidence of a young pitcher, even one with the track record of success Yamamoto brought from Japan.
It did not. Over his next 13 starts, Yamamoto was 6-1 with a 2.34 ERA, holding major-league hitters to a .212 average and .593 OPS before missing three months with an injured shoulder.
“I think it speaks to his character in the sense that after that debacle, that rough start, to bounce back like he did, it speaks to his compete and his character,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Yamamoto repeated the pattern in the postseason. He gave up five runs in three innings to the Padres in his postseason debut, losing Game 1 of the National League Division Series – but he gave up just three runs in 15⅔ innings over his next three postseason starts including Game 2 of the World Series when he held the New York Yankees to one hit into the seventh inning.
“Really watching him navigate the first playoff game – he gave up those runs but came back and battled and really took off after that,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “I think there’s a real confidence that, ‘Hey, I can be one of the best pitchers in the game.’ There’s just been a different level of focus (this spring). Obviously, he’s not dealing with as many adjustments this year. But his lives, his ’pens (live batting practice and bullpen sessions), there’s a whole ’nother level of focus. I really think he’s primed for a big year.”
Roberts made the same prediction repeatedly this spring.
“Honestly, I’m expecting a lot of good things from Yoshinobu this year,” Roberts said. “He got his feet wet last year and did a fantastic job for us. But he’s ahead of where he was last year and that’s exciting.
“There’s a lot less unknown. I think where he’s at physically and with his mechanics he’s just ahead of where he was last year.”
Roberts took it even farther after Yamamoto’s start in Japan.
“I think that last year to this year, the confidence, the conviction that he has in throwing the fastball in the strike zone is much, much more convicted.” Roberts said. “And so you saw that tonight. And so if he can do that – obviously (with) health – I see no reason why he won’t be in the Cy Young conversation this season.”
Yamamoto resists making too many comparisons between where he was a year ago at this time and how he feels in Year 2 in the big leagues. His “mental status is not much different,” he said through his interpreter on the eve of the Tokyo Series, though he acknowledged learning “from that mistake, failure” in Korea.
“In terms of the preparation, there’s not much difference,” he said. “Last year, things didn’t go my way. But this year I think I’m pretty happy with where I am.”
