The Los Angeles Dodgers’ new ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is about to make his major league debut. It’s going to be a special debut.
The Dodgers acquired Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto at the same time this season. Ohtani is already a major league star. After seven seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, he became a free agent and signed a 10-year, $700 million contract, the largest in professional sports history.
Unless you’re a “big market” team like the Dodgers, that’s a lot of money to pay for a player like Ohtani. However, the fact that Ohtani first offered a “dipper” clause, in which he would receive the majority of his salary after 10 years, and the Dodgers accepted it, raised eyebrows.
There was a reason. Ohtani was concerned that his high salary would discourage the organization from signing additional players. His desire to build a winning organization was clear.
The Dodgers fulfilled Ohtani’s expectations and acquired Yamamoto, one of the best “ace” pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball. 바카라사이트 He’s already dominated the Japanese scene, and last year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) proved that he can do the same on the global stage. Yamamoto was posted by his club, the Orix Buffaloes, and the Dodgers offered him a whopping 12-year, $325 million contract. That’s more than $1 billion in guaranteed money for two Japanese players.
Despite his short stature and small frame,
Yamamoto is known for his fastball velocity, knife-edge delivery, and impeccable changeup control. Yamamoto is currently at the Dodgers’ spring training camp at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, where he has been working out every day with a smile on his face.
He threw his first live pitch on April 18th. With Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and his new teammates, some of the best hitters in the league, at the plate, he spread the ball around on the mound. He threw 28 pitches in total, checking his fastball up to 155 mph, his cut fastball up to 148 mph, and his splitter.
“It was control like I’ve never seen in my life,” Freeman told MLB.com. I’m glad I’m on the same team as him,” Freeman said in amazement.
Yamamoto added, “He was definitely throwing with focus, and I could see how he felt against hitters. I’m pitching around 85 right now. It was better than I thought it would be.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Japanese media, including Sportshochi, “Yamamoto was fantastic. The hitters were talking about how good the ball was. His fastball was good. They said it was a hard ball to hit,” he said.
As Yamamoto continues to breeze through his first camp in good shape, his confidence is also growing.
The Dodgers will open the regular season next month with the Seoul Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on April 20 and 21. The opponent is the San Diego Padres.
The American media is reporting that Yamamoto will start one of the two games in Seoul. The Dodgers gave him a whopping $43.3 billion contract, so he is unanimously considered to be the Dodgers’ number one starter and new ace this season.
There are some concerns in the Japanese media. 토토사이트 추천 No matter how experienced Yamamoto is, there are concerns that he might struggle with his conditioning if he makes his major league debut and plays the most important opening game in Seoul instead of the United States.
As it stands, however, Yamamoto’s ego would be bruised if he were to avoid pitching in the Seoul Series. Ohtani is also expected to improve his game in time for the opener in Seoul, so Yamamoto’s spot in the lineup should be secured.