Unleashing the Samurai Ace: Inside Yamamoto's Meteoric Rise in Year Two with Dodgers

Getting there required last season’s growing pains. But now he’s blossoming into one of the best pitchers.

“It’s just human nature,” Kershaw said. “If you’ve been somewhere for a year, you get more comfortable, you get more acclimated. And when you have success, you gain confidence.”

After the Dodgers’ postseason opener last year, Kiké Hernández simply had a feeling.

Advertisement

While sitting in the dugout that night as an unused bench bat, the veteran utility man watched Yamamoto’s start against the San Diego Padres closely, trying to understand why a pitcher with so much talent had looked so out of sorts in a three-inning, five-run struggle in his postseason debut.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19