"That's why they signed him" - Rangers manager Bruce Bochy impressed with Yoshinobu Yamamoto's sensational debut

On Wednesday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto made his Cactus League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Texas Rangers. He pitched for two innings without allowing any score striking out three players from the Rangers.

Despite the Japanese ace’s outstanding performance, during which he threw 19 pitches while recording 16 strikes, the Dodgers lost the game, 6-4. Yamamoto impressed everyone with his performance, and Rangers manager Bruce Bochy couldn’t hold back his words of praise about him:

“Good stuff, I mean, that’s obvious. That’s why they signed him,” Bochy said. “But this is the first time right these guys had a look at him and I think they all were impressed with the kind of stuff he has.”

The 25-year-old used a variety of pitches with speeds ranging from 94 to 96 mph, allowing only one hit from Evan Carter. After the game Carter was also amazed by Yamamoto’s performance, saying (via USA Today’s Bob Nightengale):

“He’s obviously an incredible player. His stuff is really, really good. He throws really, really hard. He’s quick to the plate. You just know he’s going to have a really good career.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers have dominated the news this offseason, courtesy of their spending spree which has crossed the billion-dollar mark.

The headline act of the Dodgers’ offseason business was undoubtedly the $700 million signing of Shohei Ohtani.

It's fair to say that both Yamamoto and Ohtani have lived up to the hype and their high-value contracts with their debut performances.

Ohtani made his debut one day before Yamamoto on Tuesday, hitting a two-run homer to help the Dodgers win against the Chicago White Sox, 9-6.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto's stellar debut shows he could be capable of hanging with MLB's elites

Yoshinobu Yamamoto proved with his debut performance why the Dodgers have high expectations of him for the upcoming season. The team believes that Yamamoto has the potential to get his name on the list of top major league aces and excel among them.

Yamamoto established himself as one of the most dominant pitchers in NPB history. Throughout his career in Japan, he maintained a 1.72 ERA with nearly 1,000 innings pitched.

Last season, he posted a 16-6 record and an impressive 1.21 ERA in his final year with the Orix Buffaloes. Yamamoto possibly has everything in his arsenal to be a perennial Cy Young contender in MLB next season.

It will be interesting to see whether Ohtani and Yamamoto can lead the Dodgers to World Series success in their first year with the club.