Have Dave Roberts' words proven true? Examining Shohei Ohtani's impact on fellow countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been electric over his last few starts. The Los Angeles Dodgers spent $325 million to bring him in, but his MLB career got off to a disappointing start. He has since bounced back in a big way, giving the Dodgers a true weapon in their rotation.
This isn't all that surprising to manager Dave Roberts. He said after a brutal Spring Training outing by Yamamoto that he felt that Shohei Ohtani's presence on the team would help.
Having a fellow countryman in the clubhouse was something Roberts believed would be good for everyone, via the LA Times:
“I think Shohei coming here six years ago [with the Angels] and not having a fellow countryman to help support him was different and difficult at times. But for Yoshinobu to come here and have a [WBC] teammate, a fellow countryman, kind of show him the ropes and support him … has been great.”
Roberts went on to say that comfort leads to performance and confidence, so having someone who Yamamoto was comfortable with would pay dividends. The manager also thought it would help Ohtani.
Both have put in phenomenal seasons thus far. Ohtani has morphed into an even better hitter, posting a 204 wRC+. Yamamoto, despite his poor debut, has a 3.17 ERA and 1.3 fWAR so far. They've both been excellent.
Yamamoto said via Yahoo! Sports:
“I wouldn’t say he was the sole reason I decided to come here. Even if he went somewhere else, I probably still would have ended up in L.A. as a Dodger. On top of that, Shohei is obviously not only just one of the best Japanese players, but he’s one of the best players, period, in all of MLB. To be able to play with him here on out means a lot to me.”
There were a myriad of factors that helped Yamamoto decide, and Ohtani was one but not the sole reason he ended up wearing Dodger blue.
Dave Roberts believes Shohei Ohtani got Yoshinobu Yamamoto to LA
Every team that wanted Yoshinobu Yamamoto pulled out all the stops in their recruitment, including the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants. Dave Roberts believes it was Shohei Ohtani who swung the favor to LA in that.
He said:
“I think it was huge. Obviously, when you’re talking about the Japanese player, there’s always speculation — do they want to play with each other? Which no one ever knows. But I certainly believe that when you have a person of Shohei’s caliber saying, ‘We want you here, I want to be a teammate of yours,’ that was a good selling point for Yamamoto.”
Either way, Yoshinobu Yamamoto eventually signed for 12 years with the Dodgers. Ohtani is under contract for 10 of those years as well.