The defending champion Dodgers will kick off their pursuit of three straight World Series titles on Thursday against the Diamondbacks in Los Angeles.
Arizona will send Zac Gallen, who returned to the franchise over the offseason after being traded before the deadline, to the mound, while the Dodgers will counter with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has enjoyed pitching against the D-backs since debuting in the big leagues two years ago.
Yamamoto has quickly proven to be one of the best starting pitchers in baseball, posting a 2.66 ERA across 48 starts, which is the fifth-lowest in baseball among hurlers with at least 250 innings on the mound over that stretch.
As one can guess, Yamamoto has had his way with their National League West rivals one state over.
In six starts against Arizona, Yamamoto has a sparkling 1.93 ERA.
He’s struck out 43 batters in just 37 ⅓ innings in those contests.
Some of the D-backs’ biggest bats have had few answers for the Japanese right-hander.
Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Gabriel Moreno, and Geraldo Perdomo have combined to hit just .125 and just one home run in 49 total plate appearances.
The only player in the D-backs’ lineup who has had any sort of success has been Ketel Marte, one of the best hitters in baseball last season, who has five hits in 15 at-bats with a long ball against Yamamoto.
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That’s nowhere near enough to steer away from Yamamoto on Thursday.
Look for the likely NL Cy Young contender to get off to a good start in 2026.
The Plays: Yoshinobu Yamamoto Over 5.5 strikeouts (-120, BetMGM Sportsbook) | Under 2.5 earned runs (-130, Caesars Sportsbook)
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Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
