Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Los Angeles Dodgers) was deeply disappointed after his worst performance in his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut.
Yamamoto started Game 2 of the MLB World Series against the San Diego Padres at Gocheok Sky Dome on April 21, but was pulled in the top of the second inning after giving up five runs on four hits and one walk in one inning of work.
On this day, Yamamoto’s pitches, including his primary weapon, the splitter, were not working. His pitches were hard to get into the strike zone. In one inning, he threw a whopping 43 pitches, but only 23 for strikes. His fastball topped out at 96.6 mph (155.5 km/h), which isn’t bad, but it’s meaningless if it’s not backed up by a pitch. The pressure of making his big league debut and playing in unfamiliar territory in South Korea was too much for him to handle, and he crumbled.
“It didn’t go well from the start and we gave up a run from the very beginning,” Yamamoto said, adding, “We’ll look back on today’s game and prepare for the next game with confidence.”
“Technically, my pitches were shaky when I got into set position,” he said, “but I know what I need to work on. I’ll get advice from the pitching coach and prepare for the next game.”
He also acknowledged the pressure of making his big league debut. “We all worked hard to win the game, but I think the pressure made me not perform well 토토사이트 today,” Yamamoto said.
“Right now, I’m just upset that we lost the game. I feel responsible for today’s poor performance,” Yamamoto said, adding, “The season is long. I will pitch hard from now on and contribute to the team,” he emphasized.
When asked if Shohei Ohtani’s translation problems before the game might have affected his performance, Yamamoto said, “Actually, I didn’t have time to talk to anyone because I pitched today, so I don’t know much about it.”