On December 27th, 2023 the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12 year, $325 million contract. The contract surpasses Gerrit Cole’s 9 year, $324 million deal with the New York Yankees to become the highest contract ever given to a pitcher in MLB history. Yamamoto arrives to the Majors having won the pitching Triple Crown in Nippon Professional Baseball, leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts, and won the Eiji Sawamura Award (Japan’s version of the Cy Young award) in each of his past three seasons in the league. In this span, Yamamoto boasted a 49-16 record with a 1.44 ERA and 580 strikeouts. Although Yamamoto possesses one of the most dominant resumes in Japan, there were still many skeptics with the Dodgers signing a young pitcher with no Major League experience to the highest contract ever given to a pitcher. Some called the signing excessive, others said it was ludicrous to award a pitcher $325 million when he hadn’t thrown a single pitch in the Major Leagues yet. But the Dodgers made it clear. Yamamoto is worth every penny and will be their ace for the foreseeable future. On March 21st, 2024 Yamamoto would make his debut against the powerhouse San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea. The atmosphere was electric as thousands of fans anticipated the debut of the newly acquired ace from Japan. Yamamoto would take the mound against the leadoff hitter Xander Bogaerts for the Padres. The first pitch of Yamamoto’s MLB career, was crushed for a single into left field that had an exit velocity of 105.4 mph. Two batters later, Jake Cronenworth cracked another pitch off Yamamoto for a two-run triple to open the scoring. Luis Campusano and Tyler Wade had two-out RBI hits in the frame, giving the Padres a 5-0 lead in the first. Yamamoto would soon be pulled out of the game finishing the day with 1.0 inning(s) pitched, 5 earned runs, 4 hits, and 1 base on balls (BB). With this finishing statline, Yamamoto became the first Dodgers starter since 1901 to allow five runs in his Major League debut in an outing that lasted one or fewer innings. It’s also only one of the three debuts this century where a starter allowed 5 runs in at most an inning thrown. 

Certainly a disastrous debut for the newly acquired ace and many were already throwing bust allegations towards the new Dodgers ace. However after returning to the United States, Yamamoto would turn his season around in an instant, posting back to back scoreless starts against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs respectively. Yamamoto would finish his rookie year with a 7-2 record with a 3.00 ERA, 105 strikeouts, and a 1.11 WHIP. In preparation for the National League Division Series (NLDS), Yamamoto would have to face the same team that spoiled his MLB debut in Seoul, the San Diego Padres. Taking the mound for Game 1 of the NLDS, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was ready to dominate in the postseason and take revenge against the Padres. Facing off against Luis Arraez in the first at bat, Arraez would hit a single off Yamamoto to start out the ballgame. Two batters later, Jurickson Profar would ground out to second but Arraez would be driven in, after some wild pitches, to open the scoring. Now facing the four hitter in Manny Machado, Yamamoto would throw a 92 mph splitter that Machado smashed for a left field home run to make it 3-0 Padres. During the top of the third inning, Tatis Jr. would hit a double off Yamamoto to reach second and Jackson Merrill would reach base by balls. Facing Xander Bogaerts yet again in a crucial moment, Bogaerts doubled to left field, driving in Tatis Jr. and Merrill as scoring runs making it 5 earned runs on Yamamoto for the day. However the Dodgers would end up taking Game 1 of the NLDS beating the Padres 7-5. Although the Dodgers had taken Game 1, many questions were raised about Yamamoto’s performance against the Padres. Yet again Yamamoto had allowed 5 earned runs against the Padres and it seemed the Padres just had Yamamoto’s number. 

But that narrative would soon change in Game 5 of the NLDS. In a win or go home situation, Yoshinobu Yamamoto shut out the Padres only allowing 2 hits and 1 BB through 5 innings pitched. A sensational performance by Yamamoto that allowed the Dodgers to rally and defeat the Padres to advance to the National League Championship Series (NLCS) to face the New York Mets. 

Yamamoto would continue to dominate in the NLCS as in Game 4, Yamamoto finished the day with 4.1 innings pitched only allowing 2 earned runs and 4 hits while posting 8 strikeouts on the day. A critical performance by Yamamoto that would give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead over the Mets which resulted in the Dodgers eventually moving on to the World Series to face the New York Yankees. On the biggest stage of them all, in the first year of his MLB career, Yoshinobu Yamamoto had arrived in the World Series to face the New York Yankees. After a legendary Game 1, it was Yamamoto’s time to show what he was made of and to silence all the doubters in Game 2 of the World Series. Yamamoto did not disappoint as he finished the day with 6.1 innings pitched only allowing 1 earned run, 1 hit, and 2 BB to go along with 4 strikeouts, leading the Dodgers to a Game 2 victory to give them a strong 2-0 lead. After 5 games, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was a World Series champion. From a disastrous start only pitching 1 inning and allowing 5 earned runs, Yamamoto had now found himself at the top of the baseball world along with the Dodgers. And now, Yamamoto looks to continue his reign of dominant pitching. As of May 17, 2025, Yamamoto sits with a 5-3 record (tied for 7th in the MLB), 2.12 ERA (9th in the MLB), 59 strikeouts (tied for 13th in the MLB), and a WHIP of 0.98 (tied for 9th in the MLB).Yamamoto had even reached an astounding career low 0.90 ERA at one point during the season. Yamamoto looks poised to finish another strong season and make another run for a World Series title with the Dodgers. The doubters will continue to doubt. But love him or hate him, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has emerged as one of the most dominant pitchers in the MLB. The question is no longer, “Can he produce dominant performances”, but rather are we ready to witness greatness?