Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has seen some better days. The right-hander has struggled of late, and it has started to cause some minor concern around the pitcher.
Yamamoto now owns a 4.46 ERA on five days of rest, and he has seen all sorts of issues on the mound. But when he gets six days of rest or more, he owns a 0.90 ERA.
His last seven outings have come on five days of rest after his first seven came on six or more. Yamamoto began the year as a true Cy Young candidate, but has since seen his numbers fall off a little.
However, the pitcher isn’t making any excuses, even with the data from the rest days. Yamamoto believes that the rest issues aren’t the cause of his struggles on the mound.
“I personally don’t feel any issues with shorter rest days,” Yamamoto said. “I think I’ve been spending those five days of preparation wisely.”
Even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn’t seem overly concerned. But Roberts understands that they will need to get him back to his old self before things go too far.
“I mean, I think the stuff is good. He feels good,” Roberts said. “I still believe the command is good. I think he was just kind of being too fine. And so I think it’s something that I think it’s correctable in the sense of, I think it’s just an intent part of it. So that’s certainly encouraging.”
Yamamoto owns a 2.64 ERA over 14 starts this season. But even with his issues, Los Angeles doesn’t have the luxury to hold him back an extra day of rest due to the injuries all over the pitching staff.
Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki are all still out due to injury, limiting what the Dodgers can do with Yamamoto. But Los Angeles is hopeful that the ace can turn things around as the season goes on.
Yamamoto’s next start will likely come against the San Diego Padres next week. If he can perform well against the explosive San Diego offense, many concerns will be put to rest.
