by Cary Osborne
When Dodger pitching coach Mark Prior remembers Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s breakout Major League start at Yankee Stadium on June 7, he goes to the beginning.
Yamamoto threw an 0–2 pitch to Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, who drove it to the wall in left field. Teoscar Hernández drifted back and caught the deep fly ball, splashing into the padded blue wall.
Yamamoto retired the next batter, Alex Verdugo, allowed a double to Aaron Judge, and then struck out Giancarlo Stanton to get out of the inning with a zero in the run column. Yamamoto threw seven shutout innings that night.
“He got through it. And then you can see just the momentum starting to build in that game,” Prior recalled. “And we’ve seen other ones where he kind of gets punched in the face. Sometimes he gets a little bit more tentative and is not as aggressive in the zone. So I think that’s it’s key with everybody, but getting through that first inning I think it’s a big one for him.”
Yamamoto, including the postseason, allowed no runs in the first inning 14 times out of his 20 starts. In those 14 games, he had a 1.73 ERA.
In all of his 20 starts, he had a 3.21 ERA.
“Being able to settle into the game is very important for me because giving up the first run of the game might affect the whole game,” Yamamoto said.
Three of those times Yamamoto was punched in the face — allowing a run to score in the first inning — was by the San Diego Padres. In those three games, he allowed a combined 13 earned runs in nine innings.
But in the Dodgers’ National League Division Series Game 5 win, he retired the top of the Padres lineup in order — Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jurickson Profar. From there, Yamamoto had traffic on the basepaths in the third inning — two singles. They were the only hits he allowed in five scoreless innings in the 2–0 victory.
“The thing I really like the most is his head on his shoulders,” said teammate Mookie Betts. “And I think he had a little nerves maybe early in the postseason. But right after that, you see how dominant he can be. So I’m glad he’s on our team.”
Opponents, including the postseason, are batting .301/.342/.534/.878 against Yamamoto on pitches 1–25.
After his 25th pitch, they are batting .200/.229/.331/.560.
NLCS: Early game success builds momentum for Yoshinobu Yamamoto was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.