Japanese ace pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (26, Los Angeles Dodgers) was substituted in the fourth inning despite his scoreless pitching. Why.
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 9-0 in the away game of the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia on the 17th (Korea time). 메이저사이트
Shohei Ohtani (30), a Japanese teammate in the team, was silent with no hits in four times at bat on the day, but he contributed to the team’s complete victory by scoring two RBIs and one run. And starting pitcher Yamamoto’s outstanding pitching on the mound shone.
Yamamoto allowed Michael Harris II to walk in the seventh inning after a full count match in the bottom of the first inning. However, he struck out Jorge Soler afterwards and grounded out Marcel Ozuna to the third base. He then allowed Matt Olsen to walk straight, but grounded out Ramon Lauriano to the third base to end the first inning without allowing a run.
In the second inning, leadoff hitter Shin Murphy hit a double to center field. However, Orlando Arcia was grounded out to second and Gio Urshela struck out swinging. He then guided Wit Merrifield to ground out to second base, continuing his scoreless streak.
Yamamoto allowed another leadoff hitter to get on base in the third inning. He was hit to the left by leadoff hitter Harris II. Then, he gave up a double that passed the center field to Soler. Harris II rushed home around the third base, but was blocked by Dodgers’ perfect relay play and was out. Yamamoto then finished the inning by hitting Ozuna with a grounder to the third base and Olsen with a grounder to the second base.
Yamamoto allowed leadoff hitter to get on base in the fourth inning as well. He allowed Loriano to hit a triple to right field. However, he ended the inning without losing a run by striking out Murphy, hitting Arcia to shortstop, and Urshela to shortstop.
However, the Dodgers suddenly replaced the pitcher from the fifth inning. Evan Phillips took the mound in place of Yamamoto. As only three outs were left until the requirement for a winning pitcher, attention was paid to the background. The reason was because of the limited number of pitches he pitched. Yamamoto pitched four innings, four hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. The number of pitches he pitched was 72. Yamamoto returned to the mound about three months after being substituted for a triceps injury in mid-June.
This can be interpreted as a substitution of pitchers to protect the players. According to Japanese media including Nikkan Sports, Roberts said Yamamoto threw 75 to 80 pitches on the day. “Yamamoto’s control on the day was not as good as his return match. Still, he pitched well even in a crisis (when he could lose), which was necessary. That was good. That’s the important point,” he said in an interview after leading the game to victory.
Meanwhile, Yamamoto has advanced to the Major League this season and has taken the mound in 16 games (16 starts), recording 6 wins, 2 losses and an ERA of 2.63. He has 69 hits (six home runs) with 26 runs and 24 earned runs, 19 walks with 95 strikeouts, a hit rate of 0.223 and a WHIP (on-base allowance per inning) 1.07 in a total of 82 innings. In the game against the Chicago Cubs on the 11th, which was his return match, he also showed good performance with three hits, eight strikeouts and one run in four innings (59 pitches), and continued his good pitching until the day.