The Los Angeles Dodgers have been their 2024 Spring Training campaign after a historical MLB Free Agency period. The Dodgers now boast the services of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Moreover, Ohtani had an amusing reaction to Yamamoto’s Dodgers debut against the Texas Rangers.
Shohei Ohtani has an intriguing assessment of Yamamoto’s Dodgers debut.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched two innings and finished the Rangers matchup with three strikeouts. He felt relieved after getting his debut out of the way. Moreover, Yamamoto jokingly said Ohtani thought Yamamoto’s performance was “so-so,” per Fabian Ardaya.
It appears that Ohtani is not taking it easy on his new teammate and has high standards for him. Still, he will accept Yamamoto’s showing, this time.
Yamamoto inked a 12-year, $326 million contract with the Dodgers after a stellar tenure in the Nippon Professional Baseball League. The 25-year-old held a record of 75-30 with a 1.72 ERA and a 986/216 K/BB ratio during seven years in the NPB. He joins a star-studded lineup headlined by Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani won his second AL MVP award in 2023 after another year of superb production. The superstar boasted an OPS of 1.066, hit 44 home runs, batted a .304 average, and accumulated 95 RBI.
Unfortunately, Ohtani’s season was cut short due to an elbow injury. Thus, he will focus his efforts on hitting during the 2024 season. The combination of him, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Yamamoto forms a squad that will be tough to beat.
