On Wednesday, Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto made his spring training debut against the Texas Rangers.
It was his first game against an MLB opponent: sure, he faced lots of minor leaguers and players not expected to be on the Rangers roster, but it was his first presentation since he signed a $325 million deal with LA.
He sure didn’t disappoint, tossing two scoreless innings with one hit allowed.
He didn’t walk anyone and struck out three hitters.
The three-time Sawamura award and Pacific League MVP winner threw 19 pitches to the plate.
16 of them (!) were strikes.
He was in complete control: his 94-96 mph fastball was on point and proved hard to square up, and his curveball was highly effective, as anticipated.
One particular teammate, however, wasn’t so impressed with Yamamoto.
“Yoshinobu Yamamoto, when asked how Dodgers teammate Shohei Ohtani evaluated his stellar performance: ‘So-so,’” MLB insider Bob Nightengale tweeted.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, when asked how Dodgers teammate Shohei Ohtani evaluated his stellar performance: ‘So-so.’’ pic.twitter.com/G86RYD58ER
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 28, 2024
We don’t know if Ohtani was being sarcastic or just overly competitive and saw a tiny flaw or two in Yamamoto’s outing, but we are sure that those two are the most sincere critic to each other.
It’s part of being elite: having a equally good peer telling you what went right and what went wrong with your performance.
Both men led Japan to its third World Baseball Classic title last spring, and they are now teammates on the Dodgers.
Big things are expected from both, as the Dodgers spent more than a billion dollars to secure their services.
As long as they have each other sharing feedback of their performances, they will probably be fine.
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