Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the Dodgers in NLDS Game 5 against the Padres

Exactly 25 hours before his team’s biggest match of the season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts He was sure of only one thing about his promotional plans Game 5 of the National League Series Friday night.

“I’m sure Yoshinobu will be a part of it,” Roberts said Thursday, referring to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was signed this offseason to $325 million and is a Game 1 starter.

Later, the Dodgers announced that Yamamoto would start Friday’s winner-take-all showdown with the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium, illustrating one part of a pitching plan that could determine the fate of Los Angeles’ 98-win season.

“Overall, I feel really comfortable where Yoshinobu is,” Roberts said earlier in the day.

“I’m personally really looking forward to it, how he’s going to throw the ball,” teammate Shohei Ohtani added in Japanese, hinting that Yamamoto will face fellow Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish.

“There will be pressure,” Ohtani added. “But I’m personally looking forward to it.”

Before the announcement, it was unclear whether Yamamoto would start or follow the opener — with Roberts leaving open the possibility of relying on his relievers again after the Dodgers’ Game 4 home run earned an 8-0 win.

The bullpen could still play a major role Friday night, as all of the top relievers are expected to be available after Thursday. But Yamamoto will get to the ball first, enduring the kind of intense pressure the Dodgers envisioned in October when they signed him to his 12-year contract.

When the Dodgers made a late change to their starting rotation for this Series last week, they did so with this exact situation in mind.

After initially announcing that trade deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty would start Game 1, the Dodgers instead pushed Yamamoto to the opener and Flaherty to Game 2. The idea was to keep both pitchers available for a potential fifth game, giving Yamamoto his record five days. of rest — a schedule he has followed all season since arriving from Japan — and Flaherty, the typical four days most pitchers take between starts.

However, circumstances have changed in the four games since then that the Dodgers and Padres split. Yamamoto didn’t just knock In game 1giving up five runs in three innings, but was also thought to be Tipping courtsa problem that plagued him early in his rookie season.

Flaherty, meanwhile, was little better Game 2managed to get into the sixth inning but also gave up four runs in the loss.

The Dodgers’ success in the bullpen on Wednesday night provided another development. After watching eight pitchers cover nine dominant innings, Roberts seemed intrigued by the idea of ​​backing away from a similar plan.

“We’re still talking through it,” Roberts said. “I think the key variable is our vision [relief] Guys go out there today, play catch, see how they feel, which will ultimately give us more information about who’s going to carry the brunt of the game, who’s going to start the game.

“But after what they did last night, it makes everyone feel pretty confident going into Game 5,” Roberts added of the Bulls.

Instead, the Dodgers will start the game with Yamamoto, confident that the center-pitch issues that may have plagued him in Game 1 have been corrected.

“I think we cleaned things up,” Roberts said. “When he’s getting caught and he’s tearing it up and attacking hitters with his pitch combination, he’s as good as anyone.”

Yamamoto, a 26-year-old who has had an impressive career in Japan, struggled at times in a rookie campaign that was not as smooth as expected.

In his first appearance during the season-opening trip to South Korea, he was beaten by the Padres for five runs in just one inning.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto reacts after giving up a two-run home run to San Diego’s Manny Machado in Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers then believed Yamamoto was turning the pitch, at least out of the stretch — a problem that, once corrected by adjusting his advance glove placement, paved the way for steady improvement early in the season.

In 12 starts from March 30 to June 7, Yamamoto was 8-4 with a 2.41 ERA, averaging over 10 strikeouts per nine innings with a fastball in the mid-90s and an off-speed combination of curveballs, sliders and breaks.

That run escalated with a June 7 start against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, when Yamamoto averaged a season-best 97 mph with his fastball en route to a scoreless gem with seven innings, seven hits and two strikeouts.

However, in Yamamoto’s next outing (which was delayed several days due to triceps tightness), he lasted only two innings before exiting with a shoulder injury.

The diagnosis was a strained rotator cuff. For the next three months, Yamamoto was on the injured list.
He returned to action in early September, making four appearances at the end of the season. While his ERA was 3.38 over that stretch, he only made it past the fourth inning once.

Then came the first game last Saturday, when he gave up three runs in the first inning and two more in the third.

“There are some things I think we’ll dig deeper into, because I think at second base they had some things with his glove and they gave up some throws,” Roberts said after that game, noting that the Padres’ baserunners were identifying Yamamoto’s throws and transferring them. Marks on the mixture.

“That’s part of the game of baseball,” Roberts added. “So, we’ve got to clean that up and not give up on the pitch he’s going to throw.”

The Dodgers may not need a lot of length from Yamamoto on Friday night, with a deep and versatile bullpen (which should also feature the services of Flaherty if needed) looming behind him.

But they will need him to set the tone and try to continue the team’s streak of 15 scoreless innings over the last game and a half.

“I think our only focus is finding the best shooters to prevent the run tomorrow,” Roberts said.

It’s likely Freeman, and Rojas is questionable for Game 5

While Roberts said he doesn’t expect injured Miguel Rojas (closer) to be in the starting lineup, he did provide a more optimistic update on first baseman Freddie Freeman and his sprained right ankle.

“I think Freddie will be there,” Roberts said after Freeman was removed early from Games 2 and 3 and did not play in Game 4.

“With two days off – he didn’t try to prepare yesterday – he feels better today with the treatment. So I feel like he will be there tomorrow.

Freeman spent a few minutes on the field during Thursday’s practice, going through agility drills and basic running. His right ankle was tightly wrapped with spit tape, something Freeman said he might use on Friday.

“We try everything,” he joked.