LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out three batters in two scoreless innings in a dazzling pre-season debut Wednesday for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have bet big that the 25-year-old Japanese star will be a Major League Baseball ace.
Yamamoto threw 19 pitches, 16 of them for strikes, and surrendered one hit as he displayed his formidable repertoire of pitches in the Dodgers’ 6-4 loss to the World Series champion Texas Rangers in Surprise, Arizona.
Marcus Semien, part of the Rangers’ championship lineup last season, led off and struck out swinging on a 96 mph (154.5 Km/h) fastball.
Yamamoto then gave up a single to Evan Carter, who was retired when Wyatt Lanford hit into an inning-ending double play.
In the second inning, Yamamoto struck out Nathaniel Lowe, induced a fly out from Jonah Heim and, finally, struck out Leody Taveras — who went down swinging on a 91 mph splitter.
It was a strong performance from the right-hander, who inked a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers in December straight out of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball — where he had won three straight Sawamura Awards as Japan’s top pitcher.
