After ending his rookie season on a high note, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has continued to pitch like an ace for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The right-hander enjoyed an impressive first half of the 2025 season en route to earning a selection to the 2025 All-Star Game. Yamamoto again began the year pitching once per week, which mirrored his schedule in Nippon Professional Baseball.
However, he has predominantly taken the mound every six days since the start of May.
Although he has yet to pitch on four days of rest with the Dodgers, Yamamoto said he would feel comfortable doing so as a result of his body recovering well after each start, via Dylan Hernández of the L.A. Times:
“This year, my body has recovered really well,” he said. “I often check with the trainers after the game, and we talk about how if it’s like this, I could throw in four days, or how if I feel like that, I might be a little later. We go through different scenarios like that every week. I still haven’t started on four days’ rest, but I think my preparation to do that has gone well.”
The Dodgers considered putting Yamamoto on a traditional five-day schedule last year, but changed course when he went on the 15-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain.
Yamamoto initially struggled with pitching on one fewer day of rest this season, but he has since returned to form. Over his last five starts, the 26-year-old has posted a 1.82 ERA and 0.93 WHIP with 29 strikeouts against seven walks in 24.2 innings pitched.
Included in that stretch was a forgettable outing against the Milwaukee Brewers that saw Yamamoto record only two outs. He bounced back with seven scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants in his final start before the All-Star break.
Yamamoto then held the Minnesota Twins to three runs (one earned) in five innings of work to begin the second half. He is due to make his next start on Monday against the Cincinnati Reds.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 2025 season
Through 20 starts this season, Yamamoto has gone 8-7 with a 2.55 ERA, 3.08 FIP, 1.05 WHIP and 10.2 strikeouts per nine in 109.1 innings pitched.
Although Yamamoto has expressed a willingness to change his schedule, that’s unlikely to come to fruition as the Dodgers are planning on a set six-man rotation with Blake Snell returning this week.
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