Yoshinobu Yamamoto Is Dominant In Dodgers Debut After Ohtani’s First Homer

The start of spring training games could not be going any better for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

On Tuesday, the Dodgers' biggest offensive acquisition, Shohei Ohtani, made his debut with his new team, launching a home run to the opposite field in his third at bat.

READ: Shohei Ohtani Homers In Dodgers Spring Training Debut

And on Wednesday, the team's biggest pitching acquisition, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, made his on-field debut, starting against the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. While it's just his first appearance and in a spring training game, Yamamoto looked absolutely filthy. 

He blew a fastball by Marcus Semien for his first strikeout.

Then got two very ugly looking swings for strikeouts on his signature splitter.

Again, it's only spring training, but that's about as good as it's possible to look in a a game against quality major league hitters. And even the opposing manager noticed.

Feb 28, 2024; Surprise, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) pitches during the third inning against the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Yoshinobu Yamamoto Looks Incredibly Impressive

Yamamoto pitched two innings, allowing one hit, no walks, no runs, adding those three impressive strikeouts. 

And veteran Rangers manager Bruce Bochy noticed, while confirming that his players noticed it too. 

"Good stuff, I mean, that's obvious," Bochy said according to MLB.com's Juan Toribio. "That's why they signed him. But this is the first time, right, these guys had a look at him and I think they were all impressed with the kind of stuff he has."

Again, it's just spring training, results don't really matter, but when you have major league hitters and managers saying how impressed they were with a pitcher's stuff, that's about as positive of a takeaway as you can have. Especially with the Seoul series and the start of the Dodgers' regular season just three weeks away.

Los Angeles may have won the offseason, but it sure seems like the early returns from their additions are that they might be set up to win a whole lot of regular season games too.