It’s far from sunny in Philadelphia right now.
It wasn’t too long ago that the Phillies tagged Shohei Ohtani for three runs in the second inning — but it sure feels like it. They went on to lose that game to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who surged ahead behind a go-ahead three-run blast from Teoscar Hernandez. Two nights later, Philadelphia got shut down by southpaw Blake Snell, and a late-inning rally fell just short.
The Phillies came up empty in front of the raucous Citizens Bank Park crowd, and now head to Los Angeles staring down an 0-2 hole.
Philadelphia trudges into Game 3 on Wednesday night, facing a steep, uphill battle — and worse, they’ll be fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive against one of the most dominant right-handers in the game: Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Can the Phillies save their season? Or will the Japanese phenom continue to do what he does best — and punch the Dodgers’ ticket back to the NL Championship Series?
First pitch at Dodger Stadium is scheduled for 9:08 p.m. ET. Los Angeles enters as a -187 moneyline favorite, with the total set at eight runs. Ahead of Wednesday night’s action, here is my favorite Yoshinobu Yamamoto prop bet on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Best Yoshinobu Yamamoto prop bet for NL Division Series Game 3
Yamamoto has struck fear into opposing batters since arriving from Japan last season. The 27-year-old righty has followed up a World Series campaign with an even more dominant sophomore season. Across 30 starts, Yamamoto boasted a 2.49 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 201 strikeouts — tied for the seventh most K’s in the National League.
He pairs a league-topping four-seamer with elite offspeed stuff — the recipe for a Pitching Run Value (42) that ranks in the top 1% of baseball.
Opposing batters strike out 29.4% of the time against Yamamoto this season, and he recorded 8+ strikeouts in 11 of his 30 starts — including three straight double-digit K games from Aug. 31 – Sept. 12. He enters Game 3 fresh off dismantling the Reds in the Wild Card, tallying nine punch outs over 6.2 shutout innings.
He faced Philadelphia once this season, fanning five over six innings — but that was way back on April 4, just his third start of the season.
Now, he’ll face a Phillies lineup that has been ice-cold at the plate. Ohtani struck nine in Game 1, and Snell matched him in Game 2. Kyle Schwarber, who mashed 56 home runs this season, has already struck out five times in the series.
In terms of underlying metrics, Yamamoto has better raw stuff than either starter that Philadelphia has seen so far. If he stays on the mound, it’s going to be a long night for the Phillies — and an even longer flight home.
