The Dodgers Have Signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a Three-time Pacific League MVP

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a right-handed pitcher, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have reached a 12-year agreement.

By: Angela Redding | Los Angeles, CA | Hollywood Beat magazine | December 27, 2023
Photos: MLB Dodgers Media

Yamamoto, 25, has spent the last seven seasons with the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. He joins WBC teammate and two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani on the Dodgers. With the Buffaloes for seven seasons, he finished with a 70-29 record, 1.82 ERA, and 922 strikeouts in 172 games. After going 16-6 with a 1.21 ERA and 169 strikeouts over 164 innings in 23 games, Yamamoto helped the Buffaloes win the Nippon Pacific League pennant and guided them to the Japan Series Championship in 2023. After winning the Japanese Pitching Triple Crown and leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA, he was voted the Nippon Pacific League’s Most Valuable Player for the third consecutive season.

^{Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on the mound for the Orix Buffaloes (NPB) during a game in Japan on September 22, 2019. (photo: Orixbaseballclub, CC BY-SA 4.0)}

“I’d like to thank everyone in the Orix organization, the Dodger organization, and all the people close to me who have given me so much support throughout this free-agent process,” said Yamamoto. “I am truly excited to wear Dodger Blue and can’t wait to play in front of a packed Dodger Stadium.”

Yamamoto is only the third player in Japanese Baseball history to win the MVP award in the NPB

With Hisashi Yamada (1976–1978) and Ichiro Suzuki (1994–1996), Yamamoto is just the third player in Japanese baseball history to earn the MVP award in the NPB over three straight seasons. Along with Sadaharu Oh (9: 1964–1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977), Shigeo Nagashima (5: 1961, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1971), Katsuya Nomura (5: 1961, 1963, 1965–1966, 1973), Kazuto Yamamoto (3: 1946, 1948, 1951), Tetsuharu Kawakami (3: 1941, 1951, 1955), Hisashi Yamada (3: 1976–1978), Ichiro Suzuki (3: 1994–1996), and Hideki Matsui (3: 1996, 2000, 2002) are the eight players in NPB MVP history to have won three or more times.

An Elite Pitcher With an Impressive Dedication to His Craft

“We could not be more excited to bring Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the Dodgers,” said Andrew Friedman, President of Baseball Operations, Los Angeles Dodgers. “You don’t win three MVP awards by the age of 25 without an exceptional combination of talent, work ethic, and mental toughness. He’s an elite pitcher with an impressive dedication to his craft who will only become more dynamic in a Dodger uniform. We are thrilled for him to be a mainstay at the top of our starting rotation for years to come.”

After going 17-6 with a 1.16 ERA and 176 strikeouts in 2022 and 18-5 with a 1.39 ERA and 205 strikeouts in 2021, he had won the pitching triple crown three times in a row in 2023. It was also his fourth career ERA title after he recorded a 1.95 ERA in 2019. Along with Kazuhisa Inao (5: 1956–1958, 1961, 1966) and Tomoyuki Sugano (4: 2014, 2016–2018), he is one of just three NPB players to win the ERA title four or more times.

First-ever Olympic Gold Medal in the Summer Games

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Yamamoto made his debut for his country. In two games, he went 0-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 18 strikeouts, helping Japan win the gold medal. He was selected for the All-Olympic squad, and he played a key role in his team’s 5-0 victory and first-ever Olympic Gold Medal in the Summer Games. As a member of the quartet that helped Japan win its third World Baseball Classic (in 2009, 2013, and 2023), he carried out his international duties in 2023 during the World Baseball Classic. He had a 2.45 ERA, and 12 strikeouts in two games (one start) during the tournament, going 1-0.

The Japanese native Yamamoto was born in Bizen, Okayama, and went on to play seven professional seasons. During his career, he won multiple awards and was named the Pacific League MVP (2021–23), WBC Champion (2023), Olympic Gold Medalist for the Tokyo Games (2020), Nippon Professional Baseball League All-Star (2018–2019, 2021–2023), Pacific League Pitcher Best-Nine (2021–2023), Pacific League Golden Glove Award (2021–2023), and Japan Series Champion (2022).

Yamamoto Will Become the 12th Player of Japanese Descent to don a Dodger Uniform

After Ohtani, Dodger Manager Dave Roberts (2002–2004), Hideo Nomo (1995–1998, 2002–2004), Masao Kida (2003–2004), Kazuhisa Ishii (2002–2004), Norihiro Nakamura (2005), Takashi Saito (2006–2008), Hiroki Kuroda (2008–2011), Kenta Maeda (2016–2019), Yu Darvish (2017), and Yoshi Tsutsugo (2021), Yamamoto will become the 12th player of Japanese descent to don a Dodger uniform. The Dodgers will have two or more players who were born in Japan on their roster for the sixth time in franchise history, and it will be their first since 2017.

^{Dodgers right-handed pitcher,
Yoshinobu Yamamoto}

With Yamamoto added to The Dodgers roster, fans can get ready for 12 years of fastballs, curveballs, and who knows what else!

Yoshinobu Yamamoto