Yoshinobu Yamamoto's Lead-up To Dodgers Opening Day 'hard To Put Into Words'

PHOENIX — The first transportation of the Dodgers’ 2026 play won’t seizure nan exuberance of nan past transportation of 2025. But it will beryllium meaningful successful its ain right, arsenic nan charismatic first measurement of nan team’s quest for a 3rd consecutive championship.

How poetic that nan aforesaid limb should present some pitches.

“It’s an grant for me,” Dodgers opening time starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said Tuesday done expert Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And past it’s opening time astatine a Dodger Stadium location game, and that’s very [much an] grant to me. I besides consciousness nan responsibility.”

Yamamoto is scheduled to make 1 much Cactus League start, against nan Padres connected Friday, earlier taking nan Dodger Stadium mound adjacent Thursday erstwhile nan Diamondbacks travel to town. It will beryllium nan 2nd opening-day commencement of Yamamoto’s MLB career, and his first astatine home.

It will besides people nan extremity of a whirlwind offseason and outpouring training for Yamamoto, who not only shouldered a demanding postseason workload, but besides navigated an particularly speedy turnaround to transportation for Team Japan successful nan World Baseball Classic.

“It’s difficult to put into words,” head Dave Roberts said. “He is conscionable very driven, he’s very disciplined successful his work. That’s immoderate of nan things that allows him to compete astatine a precocious level. Where astir group would consciousness that you triumph nan World Series MVP, you don’t person capable to transportation successful nan WBC. He wanted to transportation for his country, and now he’s really excited astir nan commencement of 2026.

“He is simply a very wished person. He really is. We’re conscionable fortunate he’s connected our team.”

No 1 needs to beryllium reminded that Yamamoto was a playoff leader past year, but let’s really break down his efforts.

On Oct. 14, Yamamoto made his 3rd commencement of nan postseason and threw a complete crippled against nan Brewers to put nan Dodgers up 2-0 successful nan NL Championship Series.

Eleven days later, he tossed different 9 innings to thief nan Dodgers moreover nan bid against nan Blue Jays. And he wrapped up nan World Series pinch appearances connected back-to-back days, starting Game 6 and finishing Game 7.

Yamamoto threw 526 pitches successful nan postseason, 235 successful nan World Series alone, and he still touched astir 97 mph successful his last inning of work.

Most pitchers would request astatine slightest a afloat offseason to recover. When Blake Snell slow-played his offseason because of lingering enarthrosis discomfort aft nan World Series run, nan determination made each nan consciousness successful nan world.

Yamamoto, however, was already pitching successful meaningful games by March 6.

In Yamamoto’s first commencement of nan WBC, he held Chinese Taipei hitless for 2 ⅔ innings. Then successful nan quarterfinal crippled against Venezuela past Saturday, he surrendered a leadoff homer to Ronald Acuña Jr. and a second-inning RBI double to Gleyber Torres earlier settling successful for 2 scoreless innings. The eventual 8-5 nonaccomplishment eliminated Team Japan from nan WBC.

“As Team Japan, nan consequence was not what we were aiming for,” Yamamoto said. “But astatine a individual level, my information was good.”

The play will beryllium nan existent trial for Yamamoto’s training methods, which person been infamous since earlier his modulation from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and are already spreading crossed nan Dodgers’ clubhouse. Look nary further than shortstop Mookie Betts this week lauding nan effects of throwing a javelin.

If they proceed to work, Yamamoto could beryllium successful nan moving for nan Cy Young Award, aft finishing 3rd successful National League voting past year.

“There’s precocious competition, location are a batch of awesome pitchers retired there,” Yamamoto said, “but I dream that I get there.”

Yamamoto’s offseason work, however, wasn’t simply geared toward getting to opening time aliases winning an individual award. He knows arsenic good arsenic anyone that this squad has group a precocious barroom pinch back-to-back championships.

“The aforesaid goal,” Yamamoto said of 2026, “winning a world title pinch this team.”

Now complete 4 months removed from that last transportation of nan 2025 World Series, 1 instruction has stuck pinch Yamamoto.

“I learned really difficult [it is] to get 1 win,” he said. “As a team, I want to beryllium capable to stock that joy.”