In his May 1 start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Yamamoto displayed his comfort level when catcher Austin Barnes jogged out to the mound without an interpreter and Yamamoto promptly broke out a slider - a pitch that he had thrown early in his career in Japan, but never with the Dodgers.
He only threw the pitch three times, all to right-handed batters, and got positive results each time. On one, he got Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to ground out and he got Christian Walker to strike out on another.
Yamamoto's slider is a harder slider at 86 mph that has just 7.4 inches of horizontal movement and 4.4 inches of drop. The pitch graded out with just a 4.06 PLV at Pitcher List, where the league average is 5.26.
The pitcher confirmed that he threw a couple of sliders in his final inning through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda, though he remarked the pitch was 'nothing special.' Manager Dave Roberts has let Yamamoto work through his adjustment period, stating 'He's throwing the baseball exceptionally.'
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