The news is by your side.

Who is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and why is he getting $325 million from the Dodgers?

Sports
0

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is perhaps the best pitcher alive today. That’s who he is, and that’s why he’s getting a 12-year, $325 million deal from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

If that seems hyperbolic to you, then you’ve come to the right place. You want to know who Yamamoto is and why he can afford the guacamole at Chipotle like it’s no big deal. He’s never thrown a pitch in the majors; How can he be the best pitcher in the world?

To be honest, that “could be” takes a lot of work. Gerrit Cole is a wonder, just like Zack Wheeler. You can scroll through it this list of the highest WARs from the past three seasons and choose your personal favorite for ‘best pitcher in the world’. Don’t forget Roki Sasaki, another Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher, you will be very, very, very, terribly familiar with at this point next season.

But Yamamoto is in the conversation, which is why he got the contract he got. Let’s get to know Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

What did Yamamoto do in Japan?

Okay, look: In 2017, he had a 2.35 ERA for the Orix Buffaloes. He had a winning percentage of .750. He struck out five batters for every batter he walked. He allowed 0.5 home runs per nine innings pitched.

That was his worst season in the NPB. He was also an 18-year-old rookie. That partial season was probably his lowest point yet as a pro.

As for the rest of the seasons, his career ERA in NPB is 1.72, if that gives you an idea. He has allowed 36 home runs during his seven-season career. That’s fewer home runs then eight different MLB Hall of Famers have allowed a season. In his 2023 season, Yamamoto threw 171 innings and allowed two home runs. No typo.

His career figures:

1.72 career ERA
.714 winning percentage
75-30 WL record
9.2K/9
2.0BB/9
0.3 hours/9

Yamamoto turned 25 in August. So if the common preconception is that NPB is “Quadruple-A” talent-wise, somewhere between the Majors and Triple A, how about a pitcher of potential age who does? That when he’s in his early twenties?

You give him a $325 million contract, that’s what you do.

What does Yamamoto throw?

Pitches. Mostly good ones. The ones that get out, miss bats and prevent home runs.

But if you’re looking for details, our very own Eno Sarris has you covered, and he’s dug deep.

First, notice its compact movement. He doesn’t quite bring that right arm back, at least not yet. When he does, it’s to get him into Tim Lincecum’s territory, with the ball pointed at a 90-degree angle toward the ground.

But when it’s time to step up to the plate, that right arm comes up quickly and turns into an ultra-short motion. He makes his mid-90s fastball look even faster, as you can see from the distress swing above.

This video does a good job of showing how he gets that speed, as well as his other pitches:

Back to Sarris’s article. Here are his notes on Yamamoto’s specific pitches, based on the StatCast numbers he posted in the World Baseball Classic:

• A four-seam fastball good enough to be a top-20 fastball in the majors

• The dirtiest splitter in the world

• An elite curveball

• A cutter that works well, but needs some work

That’s all very exciting, but it wouldn’t work as well if he couldn’t control where those fields go. So good news: his command is a crazy elite. He pumps above-average fastballs, world-class splitters and elite curveballs where he wants to throw them, generally speaking. The combination of gear and commands gives him the opportunity to be special, from opening day.

Are there any good Major League comparisons for Yamamoto?

Kevin Gausman is a great player because of the fastball-splitter combination, but it breaks down when you get to the third pitch. Gausman offers a show-me slider, while Yamamoto can go for that elite curveball.

Roy Oswalt had a similar stature (listed at 6-foot-1, but closer to 6-foot-1, with Yamamoto at 6-foot-1) and he used exceptional command, control, and all that to be one of the best pitchers. of his generation. But he was a real sinkerballer and not so much a bat-misser.

Masahiro Tanaka is a lot bigger than Yamamoto, but he had elite command and control, and the power of his splitter-fastball combo is close to what Yamamoto has to offer. Yet height and extension are major dividing lines between the two.

The correct answer is: no, there aren’t many good comparisons to the Major League. Gausman is the most obvious, but only seven pitchers in the majors threw a splitter more than 15 percent of the time last season: Gausman, Alex Cobb, Taijuan Walker, Kenta Maeda, Nathan Eovaldi, Joe Ryan and Tony Gonsolin. However, none of them seem like a good comparison. Yamamoto does sui generis, and comparisons are not very useful. However, Gausman or Eovaldi are probably the best compositions. Considering they’re both former All-Stars with some Cy Young Award votes in their past, that seems about right.

What is Yamamoto like as a person?

English-language reports from the Japan Times and Japan News mention him as a player who was loved by the coaches and one who adapted extremely well to the NPB despite being a teenager. He likes soft serve with soy sauce, which sounds great. He’s in the salty-sweet club, like everyone in the world should be. He wants to go to Brazil. His favorite food is squid. His favorite color is red, which could lead to a lot of unsubstantiated rumors if the right person tweeted it.

Other than that, he’s kind of a mysterious mystery. I did find this TikTok of his and made a GIF from it.

Seems important.

There are no guarantees in baseball, especially for pitchers. Arms are jerks.

But when it comes to the kind of gamble teams should take? Here is one of the best you can find. He’s the age of a prospect with the resume of a future Hall of Famer, at least in Japan. Now that teams have become adept at analyzing pitches, pitch shapes and all that jazz, they’ve concluded that this guy can pitch. And he represents a rare opportunity, considering his age. If you’re wondering who Yoshinobu Yamamoto is, don’t worry. You’ll be very, very familiar soon enough.

(Top illustration by John Bradford/The Athletic; photos by Lucas Stevenson and Eric Espada/Getty Images)

You might also like More from author

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.