A friendship sparked this spring training when Blake Snell sought out Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Breakfasts turned into film sessions and, now, back-to-back dominant starts in the NLCS.
Roki Sasaki’s velocity was down last night, which Dave Roberts said the Dodgers were aware of. Called it “uncharted territory” still, and said Sasaki was “unlikely” to pitch today.
Dave Roberts called it a “50-50” decision to pull Blake Snell after eight innings. Said the way Roki Sasaki had been pitching recently and the fact that Snell likely would go on regular rest in Game 5 were among the factors he was considering.
Andrew Friedman attributed some of Shohei Ohtani’s struggles against the Phillies to how they nailed their plan against him. “The most impressive (pitch) execution against a hitter I’ve ever seen,” Friedman said.
Dodgers Game 2 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said he didn’t dye his hair as a response to his last start, but it could help give him something fresh going into this next outing. He laughed when the hair got pointed out.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 2 of the NLCS, Dave Roberts said. Shohei Ohtani will pitch “at some point” this series. Want to have those Snell and Yamamoto pitch twice this series.
Dave Roberts said they didn’t know enough at the time to make this move before yesterday’s Game 3. Obviously, having Justin Wrobleski active yesterday would have helped avoiding having Clayton Kershaw come back out for the eighth inning.
This is now a series, as we all expected it to be. The Dodgers’ plan against Kyle Schwarber this NLDS worked until they didn’t execute it, and with it, the Phillies’ offense came to life in Game 3: www.nytimes.com/athletic/670...
The Dodgers obviously would like to win tonight and cap the series, but don’t expect Tyler Glasnow (who would start tomorrow), Shohei Ohtani or Blake Snell (who could replace their throw days with a relief outing) to be available to pitch tonight, per Dave Roberts.
