LOS ANGELES — With his devastating curveball on videotape after carving up an MLB lineup and in the reports of scouts around baseball, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is surrounded with a different aura now.
Highly decorated in his native Japan, where he was awarded the top pitcher in each of the past three seasons as well as MVP, Yamamoto had been far less intimidating to begin his major league career. That began to change last Saturday.
The right-hander gets another Saturday start when he faces the Chicago Cubs on the Dodgers’ upcoming road trip that also will include the team’s stop at Minnesota to face the Twins.
Yamamoto just unleashed a plus curveball and gave up just two hits over five scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals during his first MLB win.
“I think my last outing went well and then for the next one, I think I had a pretty good preparation,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter on Wednesday after throwing a 20-pitch bullpen session. “I’m focusing on myself so that I can go out there and do what I can do.”
After an uneven spring when he had an 8.38 ERA over 9⅔ innings, Yamamoto then struggled in his major league debut in South Korea when he didn’t even make it to the second inning. The San Diego Padres rocked him for five runs on four hits and a walk in his one inning of work.
That 43-pitch outing led into his 68-pitch gem last week and leaves the Cubs with a lot to think about Saturday. Perhaps not coincidentally, Yamamoto made a subtle adjustment with his hands and success followed.
“I did make an adjustment when I was in the set position, but I was more focused on staying calm and executing my pitches,” Yamamoto said.
Now comes a trip to Chicago, where he likely will have to figure out a way to get past countryman Seiya Suzuki. The Cubs also have left-hander Shota Imanaga on their pitching staff.
“There won’t be many times to face them during the season, and meet them, so I’m looking forward to it,” Yamamoto said.
In Japan, Yamamoto followed the traditional plan of pitching one day a week. The Dodgers have adhered to that, at least through Saturday’s outing, using a bullpen day Tuesday to make sure there was a buffer day before the rotation turned over again.
Getting a week between outings will get tougher to accomplish beyond Saturday but Yamamoto will comply with whatever he is asked, directing all questions on his upcoming schedule to the coaching staff.
All Manager Dave Roberts would promise moving forward is that Bobby Miller will start Friday’s series opener at Chicago, followed by Yamamoto and Gavin Stone. James Paxton will take the opener at Minnesota, followed by Tyler Glasnow.
Yamamoto could be in line to start again against the Padres at home on April 12, although another bullpen day next week could push that one more day to a third consecutive Saturday start.
WAIT MODE
Still without a home run entering Wednesday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants, all eyes are on Shohei Ohtani, with Roberts saying his new star seems to be in a good place mentally.
Questions about Ohtani’s comfort level have been raised ever since news broke last month that as much as $4.5 million of his money had been wired to a local bookmaker. Ohtani said he was the victim of fraud perpetrated by former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
“As a coach, you can see players who are kind of antsy or wandering around aimlessly,” Roberts said. “But he’s very comfortable where he’s going so I don’t see any kind of anxiety or uncomfortableness from him at all.”
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It is the first time in his major league career that Ohtani has gone his first eight games without hitting a home run. He hit two home runs in his eighth game of the 2022 campaign.
HEYWARD DOWN
As expected, outfielder Jason Heyward was placed in the injured list with lower back tightness and outfielder Taylor Trammell was activated after he was claimed Tuesday from the Seattle Mariners.
Heyward, 34, was 3 for 14 with two RBIs in four games to open the season after he hit 15 home runs in 124 games for the Dodgers last season.
Trammell, 26, is a former first-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds in 2016 and has 15 home runs in in 116 career games, all with the Mariners over the past three seasons in 116 games.
UP NEXT
After an off day on Thursday, it will be Dodgers (Bobby Miller, 1-0, 0.00 ERA) at Cubs (TBD), Friday, 11:20 a.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM