Dodgers manager shares scary quote about Yoshinobu Yamamoto
The Los Angeles Dodgers may be even scarier in 2025 based on what manager Dave Roberts had to say about one of his star pitchers.
Roberts had a very scary quote about Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto when addressing the media on Monday. According to Roberts, Yamamoto is “considerably ahead of where he was last year,” when he was entering his first season in Major League Baseball.
Roberts had effusive praise for the command and delivery of Yamamoto’s pitches, and appears to be expecting huge things from the pitcher in 2025.
Yamamoto unquestionably took some time to acclimate to a new league in 2024. After allowing 11 earned runs in his first 22 innings, he posted a 2.25 ERA over his next nine starts before an injury derailed much of his season.
Yamamoto was able to come back in the postseason and was not quite as sharp, though there may have been a reason for that.
The Dodgers added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to their rotation in the offseason, with Yamamoto said to be instrumental in the latter move. Those additions, along with the return of Shohei Ohtani to pitching duty, figure to make the rotation even more imposing. If Yamamoto can improve on his 2024 numbers, they will be extraordinarily difficult to beat.
In total, Yamamoto went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts as a rookie. Now fully healthy and more comfortable, there is no reason to think he cannot improve on that.
While Yankees use Dodgers as an excuse, Steve Cohen is using them as motivation
Safe to say that New York Yankees fans aren’t thrilled with how the team’s offseason has played out so far. Losing Juan Soto — to the hated New York Mets, no less — was a huge blow, and while Brian Cashman brought in big names like Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Devin Williams and Paul Goldschmidt to try and fill the void, whether their production will match their collective star power remains an open question. And we haven’t even gotten to the fact that the team failed to address its most glaring remaining weakness ahead of spring training, with the decrepit DJ LeMahieu currently penciled in as the everyday third baseman.
In defense of his franchise’s fitful winter, owner Hal Steinbrenner had excuses at the ready. Sure, it would be nice if the Yankees could continue adding the talent they need to get back to the World Series in 2025. But the team was already at risk of crossing the highest luxury-tax threshold, and it simply couldn’t afford to operate in such rarefied air — unlike some other teams that spent the past few months hoovering up players like there was no tomorrow.
Well, look,” Steinbrenner told reporters back in January. “It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that [the Los Angeles Dodgers] are doing.”
The Yankees might be one of the most valuable sports properties on planet Earth, one that spent most of the past century in a position of financial dominance, but just look at what the Dodgers are doing right now. They’re lapping the field, ruining the sport! Really, how could any team compete with that?
Of course, while Steinbrenner was busy turning out his pockets like the Monopoly Man gone bankrupt, the rival across town has been busy … you know, trying to build the most competitive roster possible, regardless of what anybody else is doing. And rather than run from the challenge, Steve Cohen seems thrilled that the Dodgers are raising the bar.
