Shohei Ohtani hypes $325M Dodgers teammate after shutting down Cubs

Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers won back-to-back games after a shutout win over the Chicago Cubs in the series opener at Dodger Stadium on Friday.

The defending World Series winner claimed a 3-0 win over the Cubs after a pitching masterclass from Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Dodgers starter was immense from the mound, pitching six scoreless innings and allowing just two hits with a walk. He struck out nine Cubs batters during his relentless showing.

Following his stellar show, Dodgers and Japanese teammate Shohei Ohtani hyped Yamamoto by sharing a graphic of his pitching stats in his Instagram story.

While Yamamoto, signed by the Dodgers on a 12-year, $325,000,000 contract, kept the Cubs scoreless, with his splitter doing the most damage on the night. He discussed the usage of his variation after the game.

“Last year, the catcher did call many [splitters], but I was not able to control it. So there was a tendency of falling behind,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “But this year, I’m feeling good with the splitter, so that’s why the usage was high.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hails Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s longevity

While Yoshinobu Yamamoto kept the Cubs in check, Tommy Edman put the Dodgers in the lead with a three-run homer in the sixth inning. It was his sixth home run of the season, the most by any player this season.

Following the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Yamamoto for his shoutout performance and his longevity on the mound that eased the bullpen’s workload.

“In the last week, the starting pitching has been a little wavery,” Roberts said. “And so to kind of reset our ’pen off an off-day, five more days for another off-day, we’re sort of reset right now. And just giving us length every single time out has been huge.”

The series opener on Friday was the first of a six-game homestead without a break for the Dodgers, making Yamamoto’s six innings crucial for the bullpen, which is going to be tested in the upcoming games.

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Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya’s curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America’s favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya’s favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista’s iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players’ self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash