LOS ANGELES – After throwing 106 innings against the Yankees on June 7, Yoshinobu Yamamoto reported some soreness and tightness in his right triceps area.
Based on that information, the Dodgers decided to move Yamamoto’s next start back from Thursday to Saturday, hoping that a few more days of rest would get his righty back on track. But unfortunately for the Dodgers and Yamamoto, that plan didn’t work out the way they had hoped.
Yamamoto reported some additional discomfort after his second career start, and he pulled out of the Dodgers’ 7-2 loss to the Royals at Dodger Stadium. The team announced Yamamoto’s injury as right triceps tightness.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Yamamoto will undergo further testing on Sunday and that his stay on the injured list is “highly likely” even if it is for precautionary reasons.
“I felt it two days ago, but today that strength is gone, and during the match, my triceps got stronger,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.
The Japanese rookie said he felt tightness in his triceps while warming up for the game. He informed the coaching staff, but said he was confident he would make his regular debut despite the discomfort.
Roberts said he was aware of Yamamoto’s illness during the week, which is why the start was pushed back. Had Yamamoto complained more about soreness heading into Saturday, the Dodgers would have made the decision to scratch the 25-year-old.
“If we feel he’s putting himself at risk, we don’t remove him,” Roberts said. “During my time, there were starters who didn’t make a start that day because they couldn’t make a start and we had to pick up the pieces on pitch one. This was not the case [Saturday], to my understanding. I’ll talk to Yoshinobu myself to find the right relationship, but again, I’ve never put a hurtful guy out there.”
Yamamoto’s issues began during his earlier start at Yankee Stadium. Yamamoto consistently hit 97-98 mph with his four-seam fastball and threw 19 of his hardest pitches. He threw a Major League game-high 13 sliders against New York.
During the week, Yamamoto had lengthy conversations on the field with coaches, trainers, general manager Brandon Gomez and agent Joel Wolff. All parties involved decided that Yamamoto would not be leaving on Thursday, but instead on Saturday.
But from the start with the Royals, it was clear that Yamamoto wasn’t at his best. His four-strikeout is down 1.4 mph from his season average, while his curveball and splitter are affected by lower velocity and spin rate.
Yamamoto’s final streak of the night was a 93.3 mph four-strikeout. After the second inning, SportNet LA cameras caught the pitching coach before Mark ran to Roberts to let him know he was in the dugout. It was then that Roberts realized the extent of Yamamoto’s discomfort.
“I was surprised,” Roberts said. He was obviously very persistent throughout his professional career. I think we were pretty good as far as managing usage and dates. Yes, I was very surprised. Again, if [we knew] He was going to go two innings, he wasn’t going to start tonight.
Given how suddenly Yamamoto left the game and his lack of velocity, the initial diagnosis of a triceps injury could be good news, though neither Yamamoto nor Roberts said there was any injury pending confirmation by team doctors on Sunday.
“Until we have information, that’s what he said he was feeling and now we all go by what he says and what he feels,” Roberts said. “We’ll get our doctors involved, obviously, and see if there’s more.”
Losing Yamamoto for an extended period of time is a huge blow to the Dodgers rotation. Yamamoto, the team’s $325 million acquisition this summer, has been putting together a solid rookie season, posting a 2.92 ERA through 14 starts. The Dodgers already have starters Clayton Kershaw and Bobby Miller on the IL, though Miller is scheduled to return next week against the Rockies at Corse Field.
Now, he is expected to take Yamamoto’s place in the rotation, at least in the short term.
“The last outing is not directly related to this tightness, it’s on the recovery process this week,” Yamamoto said. “I think I’ll do a little more testing, but the actual feeling I’m feeling is not that bad.”