"No surprise that he controlled his emotions" - Dave Roberts drops rave review of Yoshinobu Yamamoto's first outing in Dodger blue

Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto dazzled on his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, leaving manager Dave Roberts impressed. The 25-year-old righty has already been hugely impressive in training sessions and he followed it up with a couple of scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers. While the Dodgers ultimately fell to a 4-6 loss, Roberts had plenty to be happy about after the pitcher's Cactus League debut.

Heading into the offseason last year, Yamamoto, widely regarded as the best pitcher outside the MLB at the time, entered the free-agent market. As such, he attracted a lot of interest from teams but ended up joining compatriot Shohei Ohtani in LA. Having signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers, there was much anticipation to see him in action.

Since taking his first bullpen session in Spring Training, Yamamoto has impressed Dodgers teammates, coaches, and fans. On Wednesday, he made his Cactus League debut against the Rangers, throwing two innings and three strikeouts while not giving up any runs. He threw a total of 19 pitches, out of which 16 were strikes. It was a strong performance from the youngster, who walked off to a standing ovation and earned huge praise from manager Dave Roberts after the game.

"He was certainly very efficient today. No surprise that he controlled his emotions, I'm sure he was excited," Roberts said.

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto shows off impressive pitching repertoire in Dodgers debut

As we look more closely at Yoshinobu Yamamoto's impressive debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers, it is clear that he has a formidable repertoire at his disposal. Here is a look at his pitches from the game:

Yoshinobu Yamamoto started the first inning by striking out Marcus Semien with a 95 mph fastball before being hit for a single by 21-year-old Evan Carter. In the second inning, he struck out Nathaniel Lowe and Leody Taveras and induced a sacrifice fly from Jonah Heim. All in all, it seems that the Dodgers have made a good investment and are looking formidable heading into the 2024 MLB season.