"Who would have guessed? Who would have guessed that in a starting rotation of giants and alphas, the most important pitcher would be the diminutive 27 year old with the mischievous smile who plays the role of everyone's little brother? From a distance, Yoshinobu Yamamoto doesn't look like someone who figures to contend in the coming years to be the best pitcher in the world."
"Beneath the mask of normality, however, there is something in Yamamoto capable of fueling the kind of complete-game performance he delivered in the Dodgers' 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of the World Series. Yamamoto wants to be great. Or perhaps he has to be. Look, and you will see it. Listen, and you will hear it."
"He sees him as a benchmark by which should measure himself. When Kershaw announced his retirement last month, Yamamoto spoke of how grateful he was to play alongside him for two years. He talked about how much he learned from him. "I think from my heart that I want to be an ace pitcher like Kershaw," Yamamoto said in Japanese, "and I want to do my best to"
Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a complete game, retiring the final 20 batters in the Dodgers' 5-1 World Series Game 2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, tying the series after Blake Snell's opening loss. Yamamoto threw 105 pitches and became the first hurler in 24 years to record consecutive postseason complete games. The 27-year-old is described as diminutive at 5-foot-10 and unusually considerate, yet driven. He admires Clayton Kershaw, learned from him while teammates, and has publicly expressed a desire to become an ace and one day surpass Kershaw.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]