#yoshinobu-yamamoto

#yoshinobu-yamamoto

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes was voted the unanimous winner of the 2025 National League Cy Young Award, finishing ahead of Philadelphia Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sánchez and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Skenes received all 30 first-place votes and garnered 210 overall points. Sánchez finished with 30 votes for second place and 120 total points. Yamamoto finished in a distant third place for Cy Young Award voting by accumulating 72 points.

For him to express the kind of praise that he gave Dodgers' ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, even a casual baseball fan will know how much weight it carries. After Yamamoto pitched on zero days' rest in Game 7 of the World Series to close out the final 2.2 innings and capture a championship for his team, Ohtani was stunned, to say the least. "I have no idea how he pulled it off," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "I really believe he is the No. 1 pitcher in the whole world."

I don't think you'll ever see what you saw Yoshi do tonight. That was probably the most gutsy, ballsy thing any guy has ever done. He's used to pitching on a week's rest the whole season. For him to come in and say he's willing to do that and throw not just one inning but - what was it, (2.2 innings) whatever it was? You can't even describe that.

Paul Skenes, Pirates Despite strong competition from Sánchez and Yamamoto, Skenes very well figures to win his first career Cy Young Award after a third-place finish. Skenes built off an impressive NL Rookie of the Year campaign to sport a 1.97 ERA that led the Majors. Skenes became the first qualified pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA since Justin Verlander in 2022. Skenes' 216 strikeouts set a career high and were second-most in the NL.

George Springer led off the inning after being beamed in the wrist by a 96 mph fastball. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the 500 million dollar man, who some are calling the franchise man, ripped a scorching, long single off the wall in left to send Springer over to third. Alejandro Kirk then came up and delivered with a sacrifice fly to deep centre field.

Bo Bichette will be back in the lineup for the Toronto Blue Jays for Game 3 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night. He's expected to start at second base, a position he played for the first time in the majors during Game 1. In his first game back after a knee sprain on September 6, Bichette went 1-for-2 with a walk. Isaiah Kiner-Falefa replaced Bichette as a pinch-runner in the sixth inning.

Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has taken great care in these past few years not to act smug or entitled about being the man who guides the best-paid team in American sporting history. That Roberts has more or less pulled it off is one of the great achievements of his stint in that role, but even he cannot hold up the charade any longer.