Blue Jays need a refined approach against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 6 of World Series

Photo credit: © Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Oct 31, 2025, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 31, 2025, 05:30 EDT

The Blue Jays are one win away from being titled World Series Champions. Before they can add that word to their title, they must defeat the one pitcher they could not figure out earlier in the series: Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He will be the Dodgers’ lifeline tonight.

The Blue Jays’ offense has been explosive this entire postseason, putting up runs and barrelling baseballs. Through the majority of the starting pitching Toronto has faced, Yamamoto has been the biggest struggle.

His last start against the Blue Jays was Game 2 of the World Series in Toronto, where he pitched a complete game. Yamamoto only allowed one run on four hits, striking out eight hitters in nine innings.

The Blue Jays would rather end this series in game six on Friday night, and not have to worry about a game seven, but for a parade. How do they ensure that happens against one of the most dominant Dodgers arms?

How do the Blue Jays beat Yamamoto?

It’s quite obvious that Yamamoto is the Dodgers’ last line of defence in this series. The alignment of the rotation worked out as a best-case scenario for the Dodgers, as time is running out and their backs are against the wall.

The short answer is simple: the Blue Jays need to get on base and move guys over. They’ve been doing this all postseason long. Station to station, a run at a time. How do they do that? Approach!

This may be easy to say, especially against a tough pitcher that utilizes seven pitches in his toolbox. The first hope is that his main out-pitches don’t exactly work as well as they do. Yamamoto’s splitter is his bread and butter, followed by a curveball.

Press the repertoire of Yamamoto

He utilized 34 splitters and 23 curveballs in his last outing against Toronto. The Blue Jays were defeated by these pitches. Their first approach would be to study and attack the splitter and or sit on the curveball. A shorter two-strike approach may be ideal to force contact and put the ball in play. Yamamoto likes to work backwards with his pitch options and can do so effectively. He can start 0-0 counts with a splitter or curveball, and 1-2, 2-2 counts with a four-seam fastball elevated up to 98 mph. If these don’t work, he has four other options to toy with.

He’s started counts off with the splitter and a cutter. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s first at-bat of game three against Yamamoto was a seven-pitch swinging strikeout. He struck out on a curveball, while only seeing one fastball, and five splitters.

One thing you’ll get from the Dodgers starter is a ton of strikes. Yamamoto will fill up the zone, as he can locate most of his weapons. If the Jays can press him off-speed, he may turn to the fastball, where contact could be easier.

One game the Jays might want to look back upon is when Yamamoto faced the Los Angeles Angels back on August 11th. He pitched 4 and 2/3 innings in that game, picking up a loss, allowing 6 hits and 6 earned runs. In this outing, he threw 36 fastballs, only 29 splitters, and 13 curveballs.

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto: causing nightmares for hitters all October 😱

3:24 AM · Oct 26, 2025

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Yamamoto is not immortal when using the fastball; the Blue Jays must find a way to force him to turn to the heater. Furthermore, getting into the bullpen is extremely important. The longer he stays out on the mound and the more pitches he uses, the quicker they may need to go to a reliever. For the Dodgers, this is a do-or-die game for them, so every pitcher will be available. If they suspect that their starter is in danger, every pitcher is liable to come out of the bullpen and have a short leash.

The small ball approach may need to be considered; the bunt and hit-and-run can put pressure on the right-hander when the situation calls for it. Parallel to this, the Blue Jays will need to capitalize on the few mistakes he may make.

This will be a tough contest for the Blue Jays’ offence, but the challenge will be another “Hollywood” showdown.