Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto finishes Cactus League work, heads to Japan

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been a busy man.

The Japanese right-hander led the Dodgers with 173⅔ innings during the regular season last year then led the pitching staff through the postseason, including a World Series MVP performance. One hundred and eleven days later, he was on the mound again, pitching in the Cactus League. Now he is on his way to Japan to lead Team Samurai into the World Baseball Classic.

But Yamamoto dismissed any concerns about all of this taxing him for the 2026 season ahead.

“Actually I have (had) this short offseason before to do this kind of ramp up,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter. “This time, I was a little tired mentally, fatigued. But physically I feel good.”

That mental fatigue is to be expected, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, after Yamamoto’s two-year transition from Japan’s professional league to back-to-back World Series titles with the Dodgers.

“It’s understandable,” Roberts said. “I do think that when the bell rings he’s going to be fine. But I can understand that what he went through the past two years – it’s a tax mentally. He’s going to have to ramp up for the WBC and we’ll see how he is when he gets back with us.”

Yamamoto is expected to pitch for Team Japan in their WBC pool-play opener against Taiwan on March 6. He threw 52 pitches in three innings against the San Francisco Giants on Friday and Roberts said Yamamoto will likely throw about four innings and 60 pitches in that game then stretch to five innings and 75 pitches after that.

“That’s a secret,” Yamamoto joked when asked how long he might pitch against Taiwan.

But he did acknowledge that he and the Dodgers “did discuss about a limit” for how much of a workload he will take on for Team Japan.

“For me, it’s just more of the well-wishing, good luck,” Roberts said of his message to the players leaving for the WBC. “Yoshinobu knows when he’s going to pitch for Team Japan. We’re aligned, as far as our organization, our pitching guys. He’s comfortable with it.”

PITCHING PROGRESS

Reliever Brusdar Graterol is in “a holding pattern” in his attempt to return from shoulder surgery in November 2024, according to Roberts.

“I wouldn’t say progress. I wouldn’t say a setback,” Roberts said. “I just think that, right now, from what I’ve heard, we don’t feel in a position to kind of ramp him up, so he’s just playing catch. And I don’t think we’re gonna see him on the mound for a little bit longer.”

Asked how that was not a setback, Roberts said the medical staff didn’t feel Graterol was ready to continue his progression.

“Whether it’s velocity or how he’s feeling to then make the next graduation, we’re not there yet,” Roberts said.

Meanwhile, right-hander Brock Stewart is progressing better than expected from his shoulder surgery last September. Stewart threw his second bullpen session on Wednesday.

“Brock Stewart I saw the other day in a ’pen, and it was really good,” Roberts said. “Just fastballs only. I think his next ’pen, he’s going to introduce some breaking balls, but it was really good. Arm speed, hand speed was really good, better than I thought. Came in the following day, which was yesterday, and felt good.”

Blake Snell has continued his slow buildup this spring and has yet to throw off a mound. Roberts said Snell was up to 86-87 mph while throwing long toss and should extend his long toss in the days ahead.

“Blake is progressing,” Roberts said Friday. “I would expect him to start ramping up to 120 and 180 (feet), and then we can start getting him out on the mound. That progression’s happening.”

NON-ROSTER

The Dodgers have 33 non-roster players in big-league camp. The one with the best chance at making the season-opening roster might be utilityman Santiago Espinal.

Espinal, 31, has six seasons in the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds and even made the American League All-Star team as a Jay in 2022. The Dodgers signed him after losing Andy Ibañez on a waiver claim and the same bench role they envisioned for Ibanez could now be filled by Espinal.

“I like the bat to ball. He’s a heady player,” Roberts said of Espinal, who is 4 for 9 this spring. “I’m playing him a lot because I want to gather more information. But I really like what he’s done. I can trust him essentially anywhere on the diamond – corners, second, third, and I think even in a pinch, he can play short. But he takes really good at-bats. Things bode well for him. He’s just got to keep doing what he’s doing.”

ALSO

The Dodgers signed Keynan Middleton to a minor-league contract. Middleton, 32, came up as a top prospect with the Angels in 2017 and spent four seasons with them. He bounced among four teams in 2021 through 2023 but hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2023 due to injuries.