As the Los Angeles Dodgers thrashed the Colorado Rockies, 8-1, last week to earn their 50th win of the season, right-handed ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto was in the midst of throwing another gem before a rain delay ended his night early.
After five innings of work, Yamamoto had six strikeouts, no earned runs, and just one walk and hit allowed. The ace credited much of this dominant performance to the man calling the game behind the dish, Dalton Rushing.
“I think he was calling my strengths pretty well,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And then the results I got today, that was just because of the way he called the game.”
Although pitchers have the final say on what pitch is thrown, the catcher is almost always the one calling which offerings should be thrown in any given battery. Manager Dave Roberts also noticed the young catcher’s game-calling skills.
“I thought Dalton’s fingers were great,” Roberts said.
The young catcher spoke on the calls he made and explained his situational awareness, while also balancing Yamamoto’s strengths.
“They were going up there pretty aggressive as hitters and those are the two (pitches) that kind of got them off-time and allowed him to create more swing and miss,” Rushing said. “Didn’t want to overuse the fastball, overexpose it or allow them to get a good swing on the ball.”
Yamamoto generated 11 swings and misses out of the 56 offerings he threw against the Rockies, 10 of which were from a curveball or splitter (with one coming from a cutter). Although his 95.2 mph fastball is the most used pitch in his arsenal, being hurled 37 percent of the time, Rushing was able to ensure that the swing-happy Colorado lineup was always guessing.
This not only lead to the many whiffs, but was the beginning of another strong performance from the Dodgers ace. Hopefully his partnership with the young catcher continues to thrive and still have the best moments to come.
