Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start winner-takes-all NLDS Game 5 for the Dodgers

Just 25 hours before his team's biggest game of the season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts Only one thing was certain about his pitching plan Game 5 in the National League Division Series Friday night.

“I'm sure Yoshinobu will be a part of it,” Roberts said Thursday, referring to the $325-million offseason signing of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, his Game 1 starter.

The Dodgers later announced Yamamoto would start Friday's winner-take-all showdown with the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium, clearing part of a pitching plan that could determine the fate of LA's 98-win season.

“Overall, I'm really comfortable with where Yoshinobu is,” Roberts said earlier in the day.

“I'm personally really looking forward to it, how he pitches,” teammate Shohei Ohtani added in Japanese, hinting Yamamoto will be up against fellow Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish.

“There will be pressure,” Ohtani added. “But personally, I'm looking forward to it.”

Before the announcement, it was unclear whether Yamamoto would start or follow an opener — Roberts left open the possibility that he could lean on his reliever again after the Dodgers' bullpen won the game 8-0 in Game 4.

The bullpen could still play a key role Friday night, with all of the top relievers expected to be available after Thursday's off day. But, Yamamoto will get the ball first, shouldering the intense pressure the Dodgers envisioned when they signed him to his 12-year contract in October.

When the Dodgers made late changes to their starting rotation for this series last week, they did so with this exact situation in mind.

After initially announcing that trade-deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty would start Game 1, the Dodgers instead pushed Yamamoto to the opener and Flaherty to Game 2. The idea was to have both pitchers available for a possible fifth game, giving Yamamoto his standard five days. of rest — a schedule he has followed all season since arriving from Japan — and Flaherty typically takes four days between most pitchers' starts.

However, the situation changed in four games, with the Dodgers and Padres splitting. Yamamoto wasn't just knocked out At Game 1It is also believed that he gave away five runs in three innings Tipping pitchA problem that plagued him early in his rookie season.

Meanwhile, Flaherty was slightly better Game 2Despite managing the pitch in the sixth innings, he lost by four runs.

The Dodgers' bullpen-game success took another twist on Wednesday night. After watching eight pitchers cover nine dominant innings, Roberts seemed intrigued by the idea of running backs in a similar scheme.

“We're still talking it through,” Roberts said. “I think the main variable is seeing us [relief] The guys go out there today, play catch, see how they feel, that will give us some more information on who ultimately takes the hit, who starts the game.”

“But coming off what they did last night,” Roberts added of the bullpen, “everybody feels pretty confident going into Game 5.”

Instead, the Dodgers will start the game with Yamamoto, confident that the pitch-tipping issues that likely plagued him in Game 1 have been corrected.

“I think we cleaned things up,” Roberts said. “When he's on offense and tearing it up and attacking hitters with his pitch mix, he's as good as anybody.”

A 26-year-old who had a decorated career in Japan, Yamamoto struggled at times in a rookie campaign that wasn't as smooth as expected.

In his debut in the season-opening tour of South Korea, he pitched just one inning in a five-run loss to the Padres.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto reacts after giving up a two-run home run to San Diego's Manny Machado.

The Dodgers then believed that Yamamoto was tipping the pitch, at least down the stretch — a problem that was once corrected with a tweak to his prepitch glove positioning, paving the way for steady improvement early in the season.

In 12 starts from March 30 to June 7, Yamamoto was 8-4 with a 2.41 ERA, averaging more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings on an off-speed combination of mid-90s fastball and curveball, slider and splitter.

That run began with a June 7 start against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, when Yamamoto averaged a season-best 97 mph en route to a scoreless seven-inning, seven-strikeout, two-hit gem with his fastball.

However, in Yamamoto's next outing (which was delayed several days due to his strained triceps), he lasted just two innings before exiting with a shoulder injury.

The diagnosis was a strained rotator cuff. And Yamamoto was on the injured list for the next three months.
He returned to action in early September, making four starts at the end of the season. While his ERA was 3.38 in that stretch, he made it past the fourth inning just once.

Then came Game 1 last Saturday, when he allowed three runs in the first inning and two more in the third.

“There are things I think we're going to dig into, because I think there was some stuff with his glove at second base and some pitches,” Roberts said after that game, Padres baserunners marking and relaying Yamamoto's pitches. Signs in Batter.

“It's part of baseball,” Roberts added. “So it's up to us to clean it up and not give up on what pitch he's going to throw.”

The Dodgers may not need a ton of length from Yamamoto on Friday night, with a deep and versatile bullpen (which should also have Flaherty's services if needed) beckoning behind him.

But they'll need the last game and a half to set the tone and extend the staff's 15 scoreless inning streak.

“I think our only focus,” Roberts said, “is finding the best pitcher to prevent runs tomorrow.”

Freeman is likely, while Rojas is questionable for Game 5

While Roberts said he doesn't expect injured shortstop Miguel Rojas (adductor) to be in the starting lineup, he gave a more optimistic update on first baseman Freddie Freeman and his sprained right ankle.

“I think Freddie's going to be there,” Roberts said, after removing Freeman early in Games 2 and 3 and not playing in Game 4.

“With two days off — he didn't try to get ready yesterday — he's feeling better today with treatment. So I think he'll be there tomorrow.”

Freeman spent several minutes on the field during Thursday's workout, going through agility and baserunning drills. His right ankle was heavily wrapped in spatting tape, something Freeman said he could use Friday.

“We're trying everything,” he jokes.

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