Talk about cementing yourself in the annals of Los Angeles Dodgers lore.
What Yoshinobu Yamamoto did during the 2025 postseason will forever endear himself to the city of Los Angeles and the fans of the franchise.
In the World Series alone, Yamamoto made three appearances â and two in the last two days en route to the World Series MVP Award.
Manager Dave Roberts entrusted Yamamoto with the close-out innings in the decisive Game 7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Having thrown nearly 100 pitches the night before, there was a reality that Yamamoto may be unable to pitch the 11th inning.
However, when speaking to Roberts, the skipper new his ace was ready to win the game for the Boys in Blue.
âAt that point in time, I wanted to give Yamamoto an opportunity to keep the game at bay. And once he did that, he felt confident that he could stay in his delivery, wasnât going to compromise health. And then at that point in time, even for that third up, he said âDaijoubu,â which means, âIâm okay.â And so for me, I just trusted him and he came up big again.â
Yamamoto was nothing short of sensational â as well as utterly selfless. There have only been a few times where a starter has gone back-to-back outings in a World Series setting.
In this case, Yamamoto allowed only two earned runs over 17.2 innings in the World Series versus arguably the deepest lineup in all of baseball. Itâs the stuff of legends, and the performance that his teammates will forever be grateful for given what Yamamoto put his body through.
There are some pitchers in baseball that may throw harder or look more physically imposing than Yamamoto. Others have longer track records in terms of elite play at the highest level.
However, at this given time with his combination of stuff, guile, guts, and stamina, one would be hard-pressed to find another starter in the sport better than Yamamoto at this time.