The Los Angeles Dodgers may be even scarier in 2025 based on what manager Dave Roberts had to say about one of his star pitchers.
Roberts had a very scary quote about Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto when addressing the media on Monday. According to Roberts, Yamamoto is “considerably ahead of where he was last year,” when he was entering his first season in Major League Baseball.
Roberts had effusive praise for the command and delivery of Yamamoto’s pitches, and appears to be expecting huge things from the pitcher in 2025.
Yamamoto unquestionably took some time to acclimate to a new league in 2024. After allowing 11 earned runs in his first 22 innings, he posted a 2.25 ERA over his next nine starts before an injury derailed much of his season.
Yamamoto was able to come back in the postseason and was not quite as sharp, though there may have been a reason for that.
The Dodgers added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to their rotation in the offseason, with Yamamoto said to be instrumental in the latter move. Those additions, along with the return of Shohei Ohtani to pitching duty, figure to make the rotation even more imposing. If Yamamoto can improve on his 2024 numbers, they will be extraordinarily difficult to beat.
In total, Yamamoto went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts as a rookie. Now fully healthy and more comfortable, there is no reason to think he cannot improve on that.
