Dodger baseball is officially back in session, and it began on Saturday with a thunderous 15-2 victory over the Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Getting the nod for the cactus opener was the reigning World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who tossed 29 pitches over 1 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) while striking out three and allowing zero walks. For added benefit, his offense supplied him with a nine-run cushion entering his final frame of work.
The Dodgers’ six-run second inning gave Yamamoto a wide gap between innings, where he allowed the Angels’ only offense of the day. He remarked that he still felt great on the mound and is feeling well ahead of his next cactus start, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
“I was already feeling good,” Yamamoto said. “And then somehow I was able to carry that to today’s game, especially the first inning. I think I was great, but due to the gap between innings, that affected me a little bit.”
Unbeknownst to Yamamoto, Dave Roberts assumed that he would be a one-and-done before joining Team Japan for the World Baseball Classic.
“Oh, is he?” a visibly surprised Roberts said before letting out a big laugh after Saturday’s 15-2 rout of the Angels. “I was in between, but then I was like, I didn’t want to miss him for sure. So that’s good that he confirmed that, that’s great.”
Links
With an open runway to assume the starting second base job at the beginning of the regular season, Hyeseong Kim made quite the impression on Saturday, going 2-3 with a pair of singles and three RBI. Kim spoke with Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA about his performance on Saturday, noting that he spent time this offseason working on his lower body movements.
“I spent a lot of time practicing my lower body movements, and luckily I was able to get some good results today.”
The Dodgers had a 50 percent success rate in using the new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system, but don’t expect them to use it with high frequency. Anthony Solorzano of the Los Angeles Times writes about how the Dodgers will implement the ABS system, noting that they will take a more conservative approach when challenging balls and strikes.
“It’s good that we’re practicing in spring, but we’re having conversations about leverage and how to use it to our advantage.”