Yoshinobu Yamamoto is stepping onto the mound Tuesday night against the Reds, and get this: it’s almost certainly his second to last start of the regular season. What a year it has been for the guy, once again proving he’s the absolute rock of the Dodgers rotation. He’s the only pitcher on that squad who has stayed healthy and made every single start this season. Think about that for a second.
The Workhorse We Needed, The Workhorse We Got
Yamamoto is rolling into Tuesday with 172 innings already logged. He’s just five outs shy of his MLB career high, which he set last year. With two starts left on the docket, he’s on track to finish with his third-most innings in a season overall, even counting his time back in Japan with Orix. He threw 193 2/3 innings in 2021 and 193 innings in 2022, absolutely dominating and snagging the first two of his three consecutive Eiji Sawamura Awards as Japan’s best pitcher. Here’s the kicker: unless Justin Wrobleski somehow conjures 28 2/3 innings out of thin air in these final 12 games, Yamamoto will be the *only* Dodgers pitcher to qualify for leaderboards this year, hitting that one inning per team game played mark. Before Yamamoto showed up, the Dodgers hadn’t had a qualifying starting pitcher since 2022, when Julio Urías and Tyler Anderson did it. This guy is the real deal, bringing much needed stability to that rotation.
Cy Young Buzz and a Dodgers Tradition
Talk about consistency! Yamamoto’s qualifying season this year marks the tenth time a Dodgers pitcher has done it since 2017. That’s an average of one qualifier per year, even though they went four seasons without one between 2018, 2020, 2023, and 2024. And get this fun little quirk: eight of the previous nine Dodgers pitchers who qualified for innings ended up snagging Cy Young Award votes in that very season. We’re talking about legends like Clayton Kershaw in 2017 and 2019, Hyun-jin Ryu in 2019, Walker Buehler in 2019 and 2021, and Julio Urías in 2021 and 2022. Yamamoto himself finished third in Cy Young voting last year, picking up 16 third place votes, 11 for fourth, and two for fifth.
Sure, Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers looks like a lock for the National League Cy Young Award this year, and there’s stiff competition from Chris Sale, Cristopher Sánchez, and Jesús Luzardo, who are all probably going to get votes. But with five spots on each ballot and 30 ballots per league, getting “votes” shouldn’t be too high a bar for Yamamoto. Remember, Kershaw and Buehler even picked up lone third and fourth place votes back in 2019. Yamamoto leads the majors, averaging an incredible 6.62 innings per start going into Tuesday.
So, when Yamamoto takes the mound tonight, you know what’s on the line. It’s his penultimate start, a chance to solidify his innings total and put a cap on what has been a ridiculously consistent season. Keep an eye on those Cy Young votes, because if history tells us anything, he’s definitely going to be in the conversation.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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