Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was pulled early from his start against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night, and Dave Roberts seemed visibly upset over the situation.
Yamamoto threw two shutout innings before the Dodgers announced that he had a triceps injury. The right-hander’s fastball typically hovers around 100 mph, but his velocity was noticeably lower.
Shortly after Yamamoto was pulled from the game, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior trotted over to Roberts in the dugout to ask the manager to come into the clubhouse. Roberts had a noteworthy reaction.
Dave Roberts looks extremely upset when informed by Mark Prior that Yamamoto can no longer pitch today.
The Dodgers have announced that he’s dealing with tricep tightness after pushing back his start to today.
Hoping for the best 🙏
🎥: @SportsNetLA pic.twitter.com/N5sHDIYixH
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) June 16, 2024
Roberts was likely frustrated because he knew there was some sort of injury news to report to him, which is never a good sign. He told reporters after the game that there is a good chance Yamamoto will be placed on the 15-day injured list.
Yamamoto was supposed to start on Thursday night against the Texas Rangers, but the Dodgers pushed him to Saturday to give him extra rest.
Yamamoto has been electric in his first MLB season. The 25-year-old has a 6-2 record with an ERA of 2.92 and WHIP of 1.07 across 14 starts. Yamamoto has even impressed fans during pregame warmups, where the Japanese flamethrower has been able to show off his cannon of an arm in other ways.
The Dodgers signed Yamamoto to a record-breaking contract in the offseason. Losing him for a significant amount of time would be a huge blow to their pitching staff.
