{"id":672303,"date":"2026-03-21T21:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T21:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/672303\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T21:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T21:24:15","slug":"yoshinobu-yamamoto-smooth-in-final-start-before-dodgers-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/672303\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoshinobu Yamamoto smooth in final start before Dodgers opening day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers<\/a> right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> went into his final start of the spring with a focus on throwing first-pitch strikes, while also hoping to test his composure with men on base.<\/p>\n

He achieved both Friday, limiting the traveling half of the Padres\u2019 split squad to three hits in five scoreless innings. The next time Yamamoto takes the mound for a game, it\u2019ll be on opening day at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a few things I wanted to try,\u201d Yamamoto said through an interpreter after his part of the Dodgers\u2019 4-3 win<\/a>. \u201cAnd [Friday] I was able to get into the game very nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The game featured a possible preview of the Dodger\u2019s opening-day lineup \u2014 \u201cI don\u2019t know, we\u2019ll see, it\u2019s some good players,\u201d manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said with a smile.<\/p>\n

Few roster decisions remained, after camp cuts Wednesday included right-handers Kyle Hurt and River Ryan, and infielder Ryan Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re always difficult with guys hoping, expecting to break with us,\u201d Roberts said of his conversations with cut players. \u201cThere\u2019s obviously some good ones where you tell a guy that he\u2019s going to make the club. But I think the main thing that just shouldn\u2019t get lost is, it\u2019s not always just about starting. It\u2019s where you finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Friday, Hyeseong Kim<\/a> and Alex Freeland<\/a> were still locked in a second-base battle. And the Dodgers had to sort out roles at the back end of the rotation.<\/p>\n

Roberts said he expected to carry a swingman who would likely pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen early in the season, when the Dodgers\u2019 schedule includes frequent off days, and later serve as a sixth starter.<\/p>\n

Yamamoto, however, had been the clear choice to lead the rotation, long before Roberts made it official Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be nice to hand the ball to him and it\u2019s not an elimination game,\u201d Roberts said, referencing Yamamoto\u2019s World Series MVP performance<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019ll be fun for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming off pitching meaningful games in the World Baseball Classic<\/a>, Yamamoto had one last chance Friday for a tuneup.<\/p>\n

He struck out the first three batters he faced, with first-pitch strikes to each.<\/p>\n

The next inning, Yamamoto gave up back-to-back one-out singles. He escaped the jam with two more strikeouts. Yamamoto tallied seven strikeouts in an overall smooth performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came out, really, with a purpose,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd I thought everything looked good, the fastball \u2014 the life to it, the command of it \u2014 the cutter, slider, curve ball was good, the split, everything was good. And very efficient. And pretty effortlessly got through five innings, so that was really good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" Sheehan has clarity<\/p>\n

Right-hander Emmet Sheehan, competing for a rotation spot this spring, is leaving camp with clarity on his role.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m a starter,\u201d he said after allowing four runs in 4 \u2154 innings Saturday against the A\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Sheehan said he wasn\u2019t completely sure when he\u2019d slot in for the first turn through the rotation. But he\u2019s lined up to pitch in the second series of the season, against the Guardians.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we definitely made a lot of progress,\u201d Sheehan said. \u201cVelo was a little better [Saturday]. I think stuff was a little better. Obviously it\u2019s an early game, pretty hot out there. But felt way better with where the delivery was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheehan, who entered Saturday with a 4.50 Cactus League ERA, had a rocky second inning. He allowed a total of three runs on a fielder\u2019s choice, triple and wild pitch. But he limited damage the rest of his time on the mound.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us right now, he\u2019s shown enough for us last year, and hasn\u2019t had the best of springs, certainly, with the command,\u201d Roberts said Friday. \u201cI think he\u2019s earned the opportunity to get out there and start and see how it looks as the season starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pick to click<\/p>\n

Roberts named Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages his \u201cpick to click\u201d this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hit 27 homers last year, but I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to [see him] make an all-star team this year,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Roberts said it wasn\u2019t a \u201cchalk play\u201d but raved about the growth he\u2019s seen in Pages.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a young player a few years ago that didn\u2019t like the weight room, really didn\u2019t work with intent,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut now offensively, defensively, very consistent and on par with our superstar players. And on top of that, he\u2019s learned to be a better hitter, a major-league hitter, and not just a slugger.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto went into his final start of the spring with a focus on throwing first-pitch…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":672304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1279,20698,1582,276,5494,280945,283677,283680,5208,1910,23590,2961,224,5337,283678,26804,11636,283679,83104,20410],"class_list":["post-672303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-ball","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-dodger-stadium","tag-dodgers-opening-day","tag-final-start","tag-first-pitch-strike","tag-friday","tag-game","tag-guy","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-more-strikeout","tag-roberts","tag-rotation","tag-split-squad","tag-yamamoto","tag-yoshinobu-yamamoto"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116269276797073608","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672303","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=672303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}