Yamamoto goes to his second season with the Dodgers after a year of a somewhat whirlwind. Just before season 2024, he signed a 12 -year contract and $ 325 million with the team, which established high expectations. But in his debut in the first game of the season against the parents of San Diego in Seoul, South Korea, he gave five races and was retired after a single entrance. As the season progressed, Yamamoto found its step. And despite dealing with an injury in the middle year, he ended up with an impressive performance in game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees, in which he allowed only one success in six and one third of tickets. He helped the Dodgers close the championship.
While much of Yamamoto’s move from the best Japanese league to MLB has been done, less has been discussed about its adjustment to life in the United States, the pitcher said the transition was not walking in the park.
“It was a challenging moment, sometimes I felt that I was still a child and needed all this help of the people around me,” Yamamoto said, adding that it was a period of great agitation in which everything was new for him and sometimes he felt “uncertain.”
“Thanks to the support system that was around me, I could overcome it,” he said.
Today, things are different. Yamamoto is no longer the new child, and, in many ways, Roki Sasaki, a Japanese partner who signed with the Dodgers this low season after a highly competitive free agency, is in the same position as it once was. Yamamoto said he supports him.
“Roki doesn’t necessarily need my tutoring or help, because it’s really independent, and then it’s fine,” said Yamamoto. “However, I know what could be ahead of him, and I know what I spent and needed help in the line. So I will always be available if you need help. ”
It will also enter this year with a little additional emotional strength. Yamamoto adopted a refuge dog while he was on the list of injured last year and, he said, has become an important part of his life. He even brought his friend for spring training in Arizona.
“It has become great mental support, a curative existence,” Yamamoto said.
When Yamamoto and the Dodgers begin another season, the pitcher said he has one thing in mind.
“I was lucky to win the World Series Championship in my rookie year. And I have many great experiences, ”he said. “I will take all those experiences and use it as progress and then try to win another World Series championship.”
