Yamamoto battles command in search of earlier self as Giants pull even with Dodgers
by Cary Osborne
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was arguably the best pitcher in the Major Leagues out of the chute this season.
And at times over the last seven weeks, he has looked like that same pitcher. But overall the last seven weeks have been Yamamoto walking in circles.
The right-hander battled command issues from the jump on Friday. A grand slam particularly marred his night in the Dodgers’ 6–2 loss to the Giants.
Each team now has a 41–29 record. This is the first time since May 10 that the Dodgers have not held sole possession of first place in the National League West.
Friday was odd in that Yamamoto couldn’t establish command. His five walks were a career high. His four-seamer wasn’t drawing strikes at his typical rate. He threw his splitter 18 times and earned strikes seven times with one swing and miss.
After allowing a grand slam on a splitter to Giants third baseman Casey Schmitt in the third inning, Yamamoto threw the splitter two times over the next nine batters.
The Giants also weren’t chasing, swinging at 10% of his pitches outside the zone.
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“Even when I have a bad outing, I still have some positive things to take away,” Yamamoto said. “A game like this, I just need to focus and learn things and turn something into a positive and get myself ready for the next outing.”
Manager Dave Roberts gave a positive. He believes Yamamoto’s stuff is still elite.
“Tonight, I think he was being a little too fine,” Roberts said. “I do. I think he’s got really good command. But I think tonight he was being a little too edgy.”
Yamamoto has made three starts this month. He completed five innings once — last Saturday in St. Louis where he threw six shutout innings in a no decision.
He was consistently excellent through May 2 — his seventh start of the season. In that game against Atlanta, he threw six shutout innings and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. It was the seventh time in seven starts that he completed at least five innings and allowed two earned runs or fewer. His season ERA was 0.90.
It’s now 2.64.
· Yamamoto’s first seven starts: 0.90 ERA, two home runs allowed, 3.8 K/BB, 2.9 BB/9
· Yamamoto’s last seven starts: 4.46 ERA, five home runs allowed, 2.4 K/B, 4.0 BB/9
That also represents the dividing point where Yamamoto went from six days rest between starts to five.
“I don’t feel like there are any issues with the shorter rest days,” Yamamoto said.
This is the fourth time this season Yamamoto has opposed the opponent’s №1 starter. In those four games (against the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, the Rangers’ Jacob deGrom, the Pirates’ Paul Skenes and Friday against the Giants’ Logan Webb), the Dodgers have tallied three total runs against the starter.
Teoscar Hernández was responsible for both of the Dodgers’ hits on Friday. He hit a solo home run in the seventh inning.
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Yamamoto battles with command in search of earlier self as Giants pull even with Dodgers was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.