World Series preview: How the Blue Jays match up against Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Photo credit: © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Oct 25, 2025, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 25, 2025, 13:14 EDT

For Game 2 of the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be sending right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound. He’s second in the rotation for the team and comes with a diverse repertoire. He’ll go up against a hot Toronto Blue Jays lineup that put up 11 runs last night.

Yamamoto was a huge addition to the Dodgers organization, signing a generous contract in 2023. He was locked up on a 12-year, $325 million contract.

He’s thrown 263 and 2/3 regular-season innings since the signing, with 48 games started and a 19-10 win-loss record. Yamamoto owns a 2.66 ERA with a .166 batting average against and a .103 WHIP.

In 2025, the Dodgers starter went 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA in 173 and 2/3 innings pitched; batters hit .183 against him. Yamamoto was a huge contributor to the Dodgers’ pitching staff, compensating for the numerous injured arms.

The repertoire and offering of the Dodgers’ World Series Game 2 starter, Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Yamamoto is deep within his pitch arsenal; he has seven very crafty pitch options. He has a four-seam fastball, followed by his second-most-used off-speed option, the splitter, at 25.4% usage. He also throws a curveball, cutter, sinker, slider, and an occasional sweeper, which is rarely used.

The fastball, splitter, and curveball are the go-to half of his pitch palette. He has a 20%-plus put-away rate with this bunch. He relies on these options early on in the game and shows more as the game moves on.

Everything the right-hander throws has some dart to it and works with life. He’s very composed, repeats fundamentals to the tee, and keeps his movements simple and fluent. His four-seam fastball works up to 96 mph, and the splitter touches up to 90 mph.

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Year No. 2 ➡️ #WorldSeries appearance No. 2 for Yoshinobu Yamamoto!

Yoshinobu Yamamoto tosses a baseball and poses during the World Series photoshoot wearing a gray Los Angeles Dodgers uniform with blue lettering and red numbering.

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The split-finger is a go-to option which moves vertically up to 31.1 inches and 11.3 arm-side break horizontally. This will work on the border of the zone, making a two-strike approach a “must hack” situation. His curveball works in the mid-70s range, dropping around 63 inches. His slider was thrown a lot less this year, but the movement and velocity show it to be a promising pitch. The slider sits around 84-86 mph with 35.7 inches of vertical drop.

Yamamoto can go the mile, offering in-game depth; he threw 111 pitches in his last postseason outing in the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. He’ll force swings, weak contact, and roll-over outs. The Toronto Blue Jays have never faced Yamamoto before.

He will face off against Blue Jays ace right-hander Kevin Gausman.