ARLINGTON, Texas — There are 325 million reasons to treat Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s weekly main event as must-see viewing. There isn’t a pitcher in the sport who has signed for a larger contract than the Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander, and few are pitching better than the diminutive 26-year-old. To watch him work is to embrace efficiency in motion and precision in command. His fastball goes wherever he wants it. His splitter explodes and nosedives toward the dirt. His curveball slows you down.
It’s a show unto itself, regardless of who serves as his foil. But few pitchers understand the mantle of “best pitcher on the planet” that Yamamoto is pursuing quite like Jacob deGrom. That made Friday night special.
Yamamoto continued the torrid start to his sophomore campaign, striking out 10 over seven scoreless innings and lowering his ERA to 0.93 through four starts. DeGrom surrendered a leadoff home run to Tommy Edman and allowed just three base runners the rest of the night over his seven innings. The Dodgers held off the Texas Rangers 3-0.
Yamamoto is setting himself apart.
“I do think that, right now, he’s the best pitcher in the National League,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Now, (Paul) Skenes is pretty good too, so no disrespect.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto now has a 0.93 ERA on the season. 😳 pic.twitter.com/WrrylAbxYE
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 19, 2025
This is the next stage of Yamamoto’s evolution. He has more than proven he belongs after coming over from Japan, shining at his best last fall during the Dodgers’ run to the World Series. Now, he’s showing he can dominate. He’s shifting onto the attack, imposing his will on lineups that simply cannot handle his diverse array of pitches on nights like Friday, when he can put it wherever he wants it.
“Last year, they knew he had a good split, but it was a lot of balls,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said this week. “Now he’s able to throw that enough for a strike, as well as the command of his fastball, that it’s harder. Even when they’re laying off, you can see the second time through there (is) a conscious effort, like, ‘We’re not going to swing at this.’ If he throws it for a strike, at some point you’ve got to swing at it.”
That splitter proved lethal. Yamamoto threw 31 of them, more than any other pitch among the 102 he threw Friday night. The Rangers swung at 17 of them and missed seven while using it to strike out four batters. That was set up by a fastball he could locate to both sides of the plate at will, or even above the belt, as he did to strike out Jonah Heim in the fifth inning. When hitters dialed in to both, he mixed in the curveball for three strikeouts.
“I feel like my pitch mix is working better and better,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.
With Yamamoto’s back against the wall, he reached back for a rarity: a slider. His 102nd and final pitch broke into the left-handed batter’s box. Jake Burger couldn’t quite hold up. Will Smith popped up from behind the plate and fired a strike to throw out Dustin Harris attempting to steal second base.
So ended Yamamoto’s night, his first time completing seven innings since delivering seven shutout innings last June at Yankee Stadium. That night was considered a marker of what was possible. Friday was an example of a fully realized Yamamoto and what he appears to be right now.
“He’s been a man on a mission,” Edman said. “He’s been unstoppable. His execution has been unreal all year. … He has something for every situation, and he’s been executing all of them.”
That it came against deGrom, a contemporary who for years was the gold standard, made it even sweeter.
“I definitely feel joy to compete against a pitcher like deGrom,” Yamamoto said. “Today, I knew it was going to be a tight game. He was good. So I was being a little more careful to not make a mistake.”
On a night when the Dodgers were without Shohei Ohtani (who went on the paternity list as he and his wife, Mamiko, expect their first child), Yamamoto’s brilliance was necessary. Edman connected on a 98 mph fastball at the top of the zone and drove it into the Rangers’ bullpen, giving him more home runs (seven) through his first 83 plate appearances this season than he had in 153 plate appearances all of last season with the Dodgers.
It was the only time they got to deGrom all night, as the 36-year-old turned back the clock to his two-time Cy Young-winning form and bullied the Dodgers lineup for the ensuing seven innings before Los Angeles tacked on in the ninth. It marked deGrom’s longest start in more than two years as the veteran has worked his way back from Tommy John surgery. He looked as dominant as ever, touching 99 mph in the first inning and striking out seven.
“We didn’t really even have an answer for him tonight,” Roberts said of deGrom. “He was obviously looking forward to this one, and he showed out, too. It was an old-school pitchers’ duel and fun to watch.”
In typical deGrom fashion, the right-hander was brilliant. Yamamoto was just that much better.
“I think there’s a sense of pride,” Roberts said. “You look at who you’re opposing, and like I said, he’s one of the game’s best. And I know Yoshi’s followed him for years — Cy Young winner — and you want to kind of go toe-to-toe with him on the road, and he did that.”
This is a level the Dodgers knew was possible. But so much of Yamamoto’s first season a year ago was about the unknown. He spent spring training reworking his mechanics, then had to rediscover his command. When he finally put things together in that Yankee Stadium start last June, he wound up on the injured list shortly thereafter. Now seemingly past the strained rotator cuff that cost him much of last season, Yamamoto’s enhanced comfort in the big leagues is translating to the mound.
“The confidence, it’s real,” Roberts said. “I just think that he’s just got so much conviction with every pitch, every throw that he makes, and there’s just no more doubt.”
It does not take much stretching for even the 5-foot-10 Yamamoto to reach his ceiling. He’s pitching at that level. It’s only four starts, but it’s a tantalizing run that has made his starts something special even among this star-laden roster.
“He’s one of the best pitchers in our game right now,” Edman said. “I can’t really imagine anyone being any better than him right now.”
(Photo: Tim Heitman / Imagn Images)