LOS ANGELES — It wouldn’t be a Dodgers’ postseason without an unexpected pitching choice.
Rookie right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday night, not Jack Flaherty as had been expected – and even suggested by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts last week and General Manager Brandon Gomes on Wednesday.
Flaherty, the right-hander who was acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, will start Game 2 on Sunday instead.
The move creates more “options” for a potential winner-take-all Game 5, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman explained during Thursday’s workout at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers have not started Yamamoto – who signed a record-setting 12-year, $325 million contract in December – on fewer than five days of rest all season, keeping his schedule as close to the once-a-week rotation he was familiar with in Japan. If he started Game 2, he would be on four days of rest for a Game 5. Now both Yamamoto (on five days of rest) and Flaherty (on four days of rest) will be available for a potential Game 5 – with the other ready to start Game 1 of a best-of-seven NL Championship Series if the Dodgers advance.
“It just creates options,” Friedman said. “If there is a Game 5, depending on the usage of our ’pen, we can have those guys take down the game, we can have just one of them with our ’pen. It just creates flexibility for things that we can’t possibly know right now, which is, how is our pitching used in Games 1 through 4? And just having as many options as we can.”
Friedman would not rule out the possibility of Yamamoto – who went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts this season – pitching on four days of rest at some point during the postseason.
“He was great,” Friedman said of Yamamoto’s reaction to the assignment. “He was like, ‘I was going to throw a ’pen either today or tomorrow, I’m doing it today. I’m great. I’m ready for whatever you guys want.’ He was excited.
“Walked through the logic. Everyone got it. They were excited about it.”
The Dodgers point to Yamamoto’s start at Yankee Stadium in June as a positive indicator that he will be up to the big moment in his first postseason game. The 26-year-old right-hander held the powerful New York Yankees’ lineup to two hits over seven scoreless innings.
“To go into a hostile environment like that and see him elevate his game – we talked about it at the time, that’s not an easy thing to do, especially the first time,” Friedman said. “The one thing that we feel really confident about is the moment is not going to affect him. He’s going to take it in and feed on that adrenaline and do what he does.”
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However, Yamamoto left his next start after just two innings and missed nearly three months with a strained rotator cuff. In his four September starts after returning, he pitched into the fifth inning just once and allowed seven runs on 16 hits in 16 innings overall.
“I think Yoshi and Jack are obviously going to pitch the first two games and feel like they’ll absolutely have us in position to win a game,” Friedman said.
Yamamoto gave up eight earned runs on eight hits in six innings in two starts against the Padres this season, a 15-11 loss in South Korea on March 21 and an 8-7 loss at Dodger Stadium on April 12.
Flaherty, a former Harvard-Westlake star, has gone 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 starts for the Dodgers.
Gomes said on Wednesday that the Dodgers were still considering how they will approach Games 3 and 4 with Walker Buehler and Landon Knack involved in some way.
