Americans have been flocking to Japan, as the USD/JPY exchange rate has boosted their purchasing power. With an ownership group that includes Guggenheim Baseball Management, purchasing power is not an issue for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the coffers overflow. But they too went shopping for Japanese assets in the offseason and brought back gold. Shohei Ohtani was the headliner with a 10-year, $700 million contract, but the Dodgers also signed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto for 12 years and $325 million.
Yamamoto was one of the best pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball and is in his prime at 26 years old. The early results were fantastic with the Dodgers. In 14 starts and 74 innings, Yamamoto posted a 10.22 K/9, 2.07 BB/9, 0.73 HR/9 and 2.69 FIP.
Unfortunately, he injured the rotator cuff in his pitching arm on June 15th and was placed on the 60-day IL.
On Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts said that Yamamoto will return next Tuesday, which is a home game against the Chicago Cubs.
The return of Yamamoto to the rotation will be a huge boost to a pitching staff that has been ravaged by injuries all season. Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, River Ryan and Emmet Sheehan are all currently on the IL. The starting rotation will now consist of Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone and Yamamoto.
The Dodgers currently lead the San Diego Padres by 5.5 games and the Arizona Diamondbacks by 6.0 games in the NL West with 23 games left in the regular season.
DK Sportsbook has the Dodgers as the heavy favorite to win the NL West at -5000. Los Angeles has the lowest odds at +160 to win the National League and is also the favorite to win the World Series at +310.
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