Legend

BY KEVIN KERNAN

Yes, on Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Since signing the Japanese right-hander in late December of 2023, the Dodgers are batting a thousand. Two seasons, two World Series titles. Over that span Yamamoto is 7-1 in the postseason with a 2.25 ERA over 10 games and 56 innings pitched with 35 hits, 48 strikeouts and only 12 walks.

This latest clincher, an 11-inning, 5-4 win in the seventh game over the base-running challenged Blue Jays was a lot more difficult than the breezy five-game win over the mistake-plagued Yankees in 2024 but this was a remarkable feat in so many ways for the Dodgers, including getting a ninth-inning game-tying home run from No. 9 hitter Miguel Rojas, and good for Rojas, a glue-guy, who thinks team first.

The most remarkable aspect of the Dodgers win was watching the Yamamoto signing pay off in spectacular fashion with Yamamoto spinning three victories in this year’s Fall Classic, only the 14th pitcher in the history of the game to turn the trick and the first to pick up three wins on the road.

Like we always say here at BallNine, pitching travels.

Yamamoto’s journey is the stuff of legends. In fact, that is exactly what Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said after the final double play Saturday night at the Rogers Centre when he praised Yamamoto: “That’s a legend right there.’’

Twenty years from now Yamamoto will still be the talk of this World Series. Yamamoto was 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA as he set up hitter after hitter for destruction.

One country: Canada, wept because of Yamamoto. Another country: Japan can now boast a pitching legend that will be a problem for the rest of MLB for quite some time.

Yamamoto is only 27. And pitching a complete game win in Game 2, pitching six innings to avoid elimination in Game 6, and then turning right around to throw 2.2 innings of game-ending relief in Game 7, is truly the stuff of legends and has turned the over-cautious pitch count world of modern baseball on its head.

It is worth a look back to understand the Magic of Yamamoto, who easily earned the World Series MVP award.

Let’s take you back to when he was a free agent as he signed that 12-year deal worth $325 million with the Dodgers.

The Mets and all of Steve Cohen’s wealth could not seal the deal even though they offered the same amount of money as the Dodgers. The Dodgers had their ace in the hole because they had signed free-agent Shohei Ohtani. The Yankees, like the Mets, could not sign Yamamoto and stopped their bidding at 10 years, $300 million, $25 million short of the Dodgers payload.

Now before you say, “Oh, the Yankees never had a shot because of Ohtani being a Dodger,’’ that is not the point here on Hal Steinbrenner’s massive miss.

The Yankees used to be the destination point for ballplayers with extreme talent. And this is not just about money, what has bothered me about the Yankees pursuit of Yamamoto was a story written after Yamamoto signed, a story written by my baseball writer friend Bob Klapisch who understands the art of pitching like few other writers. There in the 16th paragraph were these words.

“Although Steinbrenner was said to be ‘all in’ on Yamamoto, there were other voices within the organization who urged the owner not to be reckless,’’ Klapisch wrote.

Identifying a talent like Yamamoto and having the financial will to sign him is what it is all about in Major League Baseball.

If you happen to be a Yankee fan, and BallNine EIC Chris Vitali is an extreme Yankee fan, those words cut to the core and basically explain why the Yankees – even though they finished with the same overall record as the Blue Jays in the AL East this year – were swamped in four games in the ALDS by Toronto.

So those close to Hal Steinbrenner, and that could be GM for Life Brian Cashman or maybe someone else with Hal’s ear, urged the owner not to be reckless.

Even if the Yankees could have persuaded Yoshinobu Yamamoto to come to the Bronx, like Hideki Matsui once did, there were people in power according to Klapisch, “who urged the owner not to be reckless.”

You think the Dodgers are feeling reckless this morning as they prepare for their second straight World Series parade?

You think Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who pushed all the right competitive buttons to win those last two games on the road to become the first team since the 1998-’99-2000 Yankees to win back-to-back World Series titles and the first National League team to win back-to-back World Series titles since the Big Red Machine in 1975-’76, is feeling reckless about having signed Yamamoto?

Absolutely not, in fact, Dave Roberts had one of the finest comments about Yamamoto after the amazing Game 7 victory.

“He’s made me a pretty dang good manager,’’ Roberts said.

Identifying a talent like Yamamoto and having the financial will to sign him is what it is all about in Major League Baseball.

Will the Yankees just take the safe route forever?

Yes, they spent money on pitching before this season, signing lefty Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract, the largest contract ever issued to a left-handed pitcher. At this point let me remind you that after this October Max Fried has the highest postseason ERA of any pitcher who has pitched at least 75 playoff innings at 5.31. Fried owns a lifetime ERA of 3.04 in the regular season.

Yamamoto has proven he is built for the postseason. In no way was it a reckless signing by the Dodgers, who scouted Yamamoto inside and out while he was in Japan and felt extremely confident about his signing.

The truth is Yamamoto wrecks opposing teams in the postseason.

Just ask the Blue Jays.

Again, I fully understand the Yankees had a difficult road in trying to sign Yamamoto but what concerns me is the evaluation process, according to Klapisch’s report. Was that information dropped by someone to take the heat off Hal, or was it true some in the Yankees organization thought that it might be a reckless move to sign Yamamoto?

Either way, the information is out there in black and white, on a screen, so you must wonder.

On Sunday in the afterglow of this thrilling World Series, I spoke with a top talent evaluator about Yamamoto, and this is what he said about the Dodgers having a weapon like that in the prime of his career and what it could mean for baseball and the future of pitching – and I was encouraged to hear these comments

“I think Yamamoto’s work ethic and his ability becomes a situation where there may be some copying,’’ the evaluator said. “You start watching and you go, you know, he spends a lot of time on his mechanics.’’

The former pitcher added a line that has really stuck in the craw of so many baseball people, “I have been arrogantly told by the modern-day pitching coaches and gurus that ‘mechanics fix cars, it has nothing to do with pitching.’ Well, it’s a freak of nature who just won three World Series games in a week and pitched back-to-back days and was throwing 97 miles per hour without any issues, and was throwing plus-plus splits and not walking anybody and executing pitch after pitch, says a little differently; fundamentally sound mechanics are the foundation that build you to maximize your stuff, to maximize command and control, to maximize execution, and most importantly to keep you healthy.’’

That, folks, nails it.

Yamamoto is a special pitching dude but maybe if pitchers worked more on their mechanics and less on the physical antics of the modern-day pitcher, they would be better.

Watching Yamamoto between innings in the Dodgers dugout working to perfect his pitching form, his mechanics, while wearing his glove and not just going through the motions, was such a treat. This was an artist at work on the mound and in the dugout and the fact that Yamamoto keeps a book on hitters, like great pitchers from the past did, and does not run to the iPad, is also another great lesson for pitchers.

Hitting is a science. Pitching is a science. Keep notes of everything so you can master your profession. There are no shortcuts.

Work your craft, even between innings of a World Series game when you pitched six innings the night before and you are making the first relief appearance of your major league career. Get the most out of your 170-pound pitching body.

You know who else weighed 170 pounds (according to Baseball-Reference) and got the most out of their pitching body, Greg Maddux, all the way to the Hall of Fame.

“Be on time and in rhythm,’’ the evaluator implored. “All the little things and the muscle memory that creates ends up making you a better pitcher. He has a notebook, and it has strike zones in it, you could kind of see as the camera flashed in there and it has notes on every hitter, which I was taught as a kid. My organization bought us notebooks and said you are going to watch batting practice every day, start taking notes on hitters.’’

Those young hitters that pitchers were facing could move up the baseball ladder so build a pitching encyclopedia of knowledge.

To be clear, I totally understand what a unique talent Yoshinobu Yamamoto is as a pitcher, but if other pitchers started picking up his work habits and methods, they may get a little better.

Yamamoto is not pulling a card out of his pocket to figure out how to beat a hitter.

Earlier in my writing career I was fortunate to watch a young basketball star come of superstar age.

Back then they said: Be Like Mike. This does not have the same ring, but it might be worth it for young pitchers: Be Like Yoshinobu Yamamoto.