Wait, what? That’s me whenever I see a list of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball that doesn’t include the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the top three — or not until No. 7, like MLB Network’s did.
It’s hard to believe there are professional ball-watchers who want us to believe there are a handful of pitchers better than the Dodgers’ righty who’s steadily filling the fingers on his hand with championship rings.
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Respectfully, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler and Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale are great. So are the Philadelphia Phillies’ Christopher Sánchez and Boston Red Sox’s Garrett Crochet.
But they’re not greater than Yamamoto.
I’m not saying criminally underrating someone like Yamamoto should be prosecutable, I’m just wondering why anyone would?
“It could have something to do with him not throwing 100 like some other guys,” Dodgers pitcher Ben Casparius said. “But just in terms of pure pitching and what he’s able to do and where he’s able to locate certain pitches and how he’s able to read the hitters?”
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Elite.
“In our eyes, I would for sure say Yamamoto is very underrated,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “I think what goes into your role as a player is your willingness to win, whatever you’ll do to win. I don’t have to go back to the World Series and bring anything up, everyone watched those games, everyone saw what he did.”
Maybe it was a power outage at some folks’ homes during the World Series? Or a subtle form of protest against the Dodgers, champions of capitalism? Maybe Yamamoto’s unassuming everyman act is just that good?
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We’ve all marveled at Shohei Ohtani’s Superman quick change, how he’ll go from dynamite pitcher to fearsome hitter in a few bats of an eye. But the truly superheroic character on the Dodgers’ roster is their 5-foot-10, 176-pound ace, Yamamoto.
His Clark Kent-esque transformation, from unimposing nice guy — “the nicest guy in the entire world,” Casparius said — to smirking menace whenever the day needs saving is the stuff of comic book legends.
In last season’s World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays that went the distance and beyond, Yamamoto earned MVP and three of the Dodgers’ four wins.
He had a 1.02 ERA. Got the Dodgers squared away with nine innings of one-run baseball in Game 2. Staved off elimination in Game 6, giving up just one run in six innings. And closed the deal in Game 7 when he pitched 2 ⅔ innings of scoreless relief in the Dodgers’ 5-4, 11-inning victory.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is all smiles as he’s hugged by a teammate following the Game 7 win over the Blue Jays in the World Series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Oh, and of course Yamamoto was warming in the bullpen when Freddie Freeman hit his walk-off home run to end the 18-inning Game 3 epic at Dodger Stadium.
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And Yamamoto showed up for Japan in the World Baseball Classic. He tossed 2 ⅔ scoreless innings in one pool-play start and was scheduled to start again against Venezuela on Saturday evening in Japan’s first knockout round game.
“Part of being a gamer and being a great competitor in big moments is the preparation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And when you prepare the right way, that eliminates a lot of doubt and fear. And that, for me, that’s the core of who Yoshinobu is.”
Hyper-competitive and exceptionally nimble, Yamamoto is also super strong — in body and mind.
Bruce Wayne had Alfred Pennyworth; Yamamoto has Yada Sensei, personal trainer Osamu Yada, a 60-something Japanese judo therapist whose unique training regimen has helped turn his star pupil into a world-beater.
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So while the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes and Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal are baseball’s kings of the hill, if you had to pick one arm to decide the fate of the universe, whose would it be?
Cue the Yoshinobu Yamamoto anthem.
“He’s probably the best pitcher I’ve ever seen live,” Casparius said. “He’s definitely the guy I’m taking in a must-win game.”
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Said pitcher River Ryan: “Yoshi, he is just a natural freak athlete” with a “routine that’s incredible to watch.”
And it isn’t merely the pitcher’s willingness to go to bat for his team and country, all the metrics make his case, too.
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Last season, Yamamoto had the fourth-best ERA in the big leagues (2.49) and gave up two or fewer runs in 20 of his 30 starts. He was also tied for first in barrel rate (5.7%), fifth in strikeout rate (29.4%) and seventh in FIP (2.94).
Pick a category, and it paints the picture almost as well as Yamamoto does corners.
I’m not asking people to put some respect on Yamamoto’s name, I’m asking them to put mad respect on it.
“I would say yes, I don’t think he’s fully appreciated for what he’s done,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “Not just yet. He will.”
Eventually even people around Clark Kent have to catch on: This guy might not walk around like he’s a superhero, but he is one.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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