{"id":607082,"date":"2026-02-22T01:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/607082\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T01:45:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:45:22","slug":"dodgers-yoshinobu-yamamoto-gets-work-in-during-cactus-league-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/607082\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets work in during Cactus League opener"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TEMPE, Ariz.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers<\/a> starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> toed the rubber Saturday for the team\u2019s Cactus League opener against the Angels<\/a> at Tempe Diablo Stadium with the expectation that it would be his only start before joining Team Japan for next month\u2019s World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

Even manager Dave Roberts<\/a> believed that was the case as he came out to lift his star pitcher with two outs in the bottom of the second inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoc came to the mound, and he said, \u2018Good luck in the WBC,\u2019\u201d Yamamoto said via interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. \u201cBut actually, I have one more game to pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

After giving up one earned run, three hits and striking out three in his 30-pitch outing, Yamamoto said he believes his next start will be on Friday against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium.<\/p>\n

Yamamoto cruised through the first inning, striking out third baseman Yoan Moncado swinging and getting shortstop Zach Neto to look at a called strike three on a darting sinker.<\/p>\n

But then the Dodgers, who had scored three runs in the top of the first, sent 11 men to the plate, scoring six runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter in a half-inning that took nearly 30 minutes. Yamamoto believes the long break between innings may have disrupted his workflow, contributing to a messy second inning. <\/p>\n

A dropped fly ball on the warning track in left field by Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez spelled trouble for Yamamoto, scoring a run and allowing Jo Adell to reach second base with nobody out. Yamamoto struck out the next hitter, getting left fielder Josh Lowe to swing through a splitter, before allowing back-to-back outfield line drives to catcher Logan O\u2019Hoppe and second baseman Christian Moore. After Bryce Teodosio flied out for the second out of the inning, Yamamoto\u2019s day was done.<\/p>\n

Yamamoto reached into his five-pitch repertoire Saturday, mixing in six fastballs, eight splitters, five sinkers, four cutters, four curveballs and three sliders. His fastball sat between 91 and 93 mph, topping out at 94.9 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking for some stuff I needed to get back before I go back to Japan and join the team,\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cI was looking forward to the feeling, the delivery and those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fans <\/p>\n

Fans pack Diablo Stadium for Saturday\u2019s game between the Angels and Dodgers.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cYesterday\u2019s practice, I was already feeling good. And then, somehow I was able to carry that to today\u2019s game, especially the first inning. I think I was great, but due to the gap between innings, that affected me a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Yamamoto\u2019s time being limited with the Dodgers before the WBC, Roberts spoke pregame Saturday about what he hopes to see from his star pitcher in the time leading up to the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that obviously, him going and pitching for Team Japan, he\u2019s going to be trying to ramp it up and get prepared,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cSo, I think it\u2019s just more of what he does [on] strike one, [how he] uses secondaries, and be efficient and get some outs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Yamamoto will pitch once more before leaving for the WBC, Roberts told reporters that he isn\u2019t concerned about the WBC interrupting Yamamoto\u2019s preparation for the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m confident because there\u2019s no exact science on ramping up early and success, or being methodical and not participating to result in success during the season,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThere\u2019s just no exact science. For me, and for all of us, you\u2019re just believing in the player, knowing that he knows what it takes to be ready for a season and he takes care of himself, so I think for me, it\u2019s an easy way to think and wrap my head around, just kind of believing in him, trusting him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Etc. \"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez hugs Dodgers manager Dave Roberts after scoring in the first inning.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Just over a week into camp, utilityman Hyeseong Kim has already made a strong first impression, as he vies for more playing time in his second season. On Saturday, he went two for three with three RBIs to help spark the Dodgers\u2019 offensive outburst. Elsewhere, the top three hitters in the lineup \u2014 Shohei Ohtani, Hern\u00e1ndez and Andy Pages \u2014 combined for six hits in nine at-bats with two RBIs. … The Dodgers claimed outfielder Jack Suwinski from the Pittsburgh Pirates. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers transferred utilityman Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez to the 60-day injured list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEMPE, Ariz.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto toed the rubber Saturday for the team\u2019s Cactus League opener against the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":607083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,260982,276,2442,26803,19498,89616,2961,224,5337,260983,11578,26804,10201,88045,158146,5957,24477,83104,20410],"class_list":["post-607082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-cactus-league-opener","tag-california","tag-dodgers","tag-first-inning","tag-hit","tag-innings","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-more-game","tag-regular-season","tag-roberts","tag-run","tag-second-inning","tag-team-japan","tag-teoscar-hernandez","tag-wbc","tag-yamamoto","tag-yoshinobu-yamamoto"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116111758486600169","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}