LOS ANGELES — Last winter, it seemed as though Yoshinobu Yamamoto was destined for New York City. The Yankees and Mets were both putting on the full-court press in the quest for the services of the right-handed starter.
When he spurned the New York teams for the Los Angeles Dodgers only a few days after Shohei Ohtani did the same, there was a collective feeling of, “Not you too.” The allure of the West Coast and the chance to play with Ohtani won him over in the end. Yamamoto’s desire was to win a World Series and he has a chance to do that with the Dodgers.
“I signed with the Dodgers because I really wanted to win,” he said Friday through a team translator at Dodger Stadium, ahead of Game 1 of the World Series. “Especially my first year, I’ve come this far and get to play on this big stage in the World Series. Also, I’m able to go out there and play with these great teammates.”
Yamamoto turned in one of his best starts of the season against the Yankees in the Bronx, allowing only two hits over seven shutout innings June 7. The 26-year-old is hoping to repeat that feat in Game 2, when he takes the ball for his first-ever World Series start.
“I think the experience from June will benefit me a little bit, but this is the World Series and the lineup might also probably be different from June,” Yamamoto said. “I’m going to just study and get myself ready for the lineup tomorrow.”
The lineup does look different, but the main characters are the same. Yamamoto looked shaky in his first postseason start, but he blanked the San Diego Padres over five innings in an elimination game to help the Dodgers advance to the NLCS, then held the Mets to only two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings in a 10-2 Game 5 win.
Having pitched in the postseason in Japan, he drew from that experience. But now he’ll come into his fourth postseason start hot, making him extra dangerous.
“Every time I’ve pitched in the last three games, I’ve become more comfortable and I’m feeling better,” he said. “Of course it’s a World Series, so I might face a challenge, but I think that benefits me — those previous three outings during the postseason.”
Yamamoto could have never known that he would have had a chance to get this far with one of the teams he spurned, but now the Yankees have a chance to show him what he missed in Game 2 when he faces left-hander Carlos Rodon.
“Every game with the Yankees is a big deal,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “So hopefully that serves us well this time of year, and hopefully that serves us well going into the World Series where guys are used to having a lot of attention, a lot of eyes, a lot of noise around them.”
