Through three starts in June, Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked like he might finally be hitting a real stride with the Dodgers. In his first start, he pitched six innings and gave up seven hits, but kept the damage down to one run while striking out seven batters. He was even better the next week, when he went seven scoreless innings and only gave up two hits and two walks. On June 15, he was looking to keep things rolling against the Royals and went two innings while giving up just one hit.
It should've been another quality start for him, but he was replaced by Michael Grove going into the third. Later that same day, he was moved to the 15-day IL with triceps tightness thatturned out to be just a symptom of a strained rotator cuff. A month later, he didn't seem to be making much progress and was transferred to the 60-day IL in an unsurprising but still demoralizing move.
The Dodgers have avoided putting a timeline on his return since, but Yamamoto has been slowly working through a throwing progression. He provided a little bit of insight himself when he spoke to reporters ahead of the Dodgers' third game against the Red Sox on Sunday, saying his goal was to get back this season, and that he wasn't feeling discomfort in his shoulder.
Yamamoto hoping he'll be back this year isn't exactly helpful. We're all hoping he'll be back this year, and the general vibe from the Dodgers was that his return sometime this season, even if it ends up being in September, wasn't really in question to be begin with. There are 70-some games left this season and a postseason ahead; if the Dodgers make it through the playoffs, that means three more months of baseball for LA. A nebulous "sometime this year" isn't illuminating.
However, the fact that he isn't experiencing discomfort is helpful. He's not throwing off a mound yet (subscription required), but he's been doing some long toss at Dodger Stadium. It makes sense that the Dodgers don't want to push him and potentially ruin or greatly hinder their $325 million investment in the first year of his contract, but a little more transparency on how he's doing would be beneficial to fans.
The Dodgers are clearly poised to be aggressive with starting pitchers at the trade deadline, and Yamamoto's update makes it pretty clear why. Even with Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw returning, reinforcements are needed, and it doesn't seem that Yamamoto will be in the mix any time in the immediate future.
