Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (山本 由伸) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes. Yamamoto is a three-time Pacific League Most Valuable Player, Eiji Sawamura Award, and a three-time Triple Crown winner. Yamamoto is the first player in the history of professional baseball to win the Triple Crown in three consecutive years.

Orix Buffaloes
Yamamoto made his Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) debut on August 20, 2017 (three days after his 19th birthday), for the Orix Buffaloes of the Pacific League. Yamamoto finished the 2021 season with an 18–5 record and 206 strikeouts across $193 2/3$ innings pitched. His 1.39 earned run average (ERA) led the league for the season. Yamamoto won the Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award following the season.

On June 18, 2022, Yamamoto threw the year's fourth no-hitter and the 97th in NPB, pitching the Buffaloes to a 2–0 win over the Saitama Seibu Lions. In 26 starts for Orix in 2022, Yamamoto registered a 15–5 record and 1.68 ERA with 205 strikeouts in 193 innings pitched. Following the season, he was named the Eiji Sawamura Award winner for the second consecutive season. He also won his second consecutive pitching Triple Crown.

On September 9, 2023, Yamamoto threw his second NPB career no-hitter, blanking the Chiba Lotte Marines. In doing so, he became the first pitcher in NPB history to throw no-hitters in consecutive seasons.

Yamamoto pitched in Game 1 of the 2023 Japan Series when he surrendered seven runs en route to an 8-0 loss. He followed that up with a Game 6 performance in which he threw 138 pitches for a Japan Series-record 14 strikeouts as the Buffaloes tied the series at three games apiece with a 5-1 win. On November 5, 2023, on the same day as the Buffaloes' Game 7 and series-deciding defeat at the hands of the Hanshin Tigers, the Buffaloes announced that Yamamoto would be posted to MLB. He was officially posted fifteen days later on November 20.

Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract on December 27, 2023. The Dodgers also had to pay a $50.625 million posting fee to Yamamoto's previous team, the Buffaloes.

Yamamoto made his major league debut on March 21, 2024 against the San Diego Padres at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea as part of the MLB World Tour. He allowed five runs on four hits and a walk in only one inning of work with two strikeouts, the first of which was Jurickson Profar. The five runs allowed were the most ever by a Dodgers starter in their major league debut pitching an inning or less. On April 6, against the Chicago Cubs, Yamamoto struck out eight while allowing just three hits in five scoreless innings, retiring the last ten batters he faced to pick up his first major league win.

Yamamoto left his June 15 start after only two innings and was placed on the injured list the next day with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder He was transferred to the 60–day injured list in July 13.

International career
Yamamoto has represented the Japan national baseball team in several international competitions including the 2019 exhibition games against Mexico, 2019 WBSC Premier12. and the 2020 Summer Olympics where the Japanese baseball team went on to win gold, beating Team USA in the gold-medal game. Yamamoto was also named to the Tokyo 2020 All-Olympic Baseball Team.

In 2023, Yamamoto represented Japan in the 5th World Baseball Classic. He pitched in two games, starting one, in the tournament and allowed two runs in $7 1⁄3$ innings His team won the Gold medal in the tournament.

Pitching style
Yamamoto is a 5 ft, 176 lbs right-handed pitcher. With a three-quarters delivery, he throws a fastball averaging 95 mph (153 km/h), which tops out at 99 mph (159 km/h), a deceptive splitter, a cutter, and a curveball. Scouts said that the splitter is a legitimate out-pitch at the big league level. He also has great command, posting a BB/9 of 2.1 in his NPB career.