"You have a handsome face" - Shohei Ohtani & Yoshinobu Yamamoto test their bromance in Dodgers' new in-game fun
Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are settling in nicely at the Los Angeles Dodgers and are becoming two of the most popular players on the team. With the team committing to pay them over $1 billion in their contracts, they are very much under the microscope this season.
The LA Dodgers' Instagram handle shared a clip of the two Japanese stars playing a game. The idea was to give childish compliments to make each other laugh. Ohtani started:
"Your throwing style is beautiful and cool."
Yamamoto: "Thank you for always being so kind to me."
Ohtani: "You have a handsome face."
Yamamoto: "I think you are more handsome, Shohei-san."
A long pause ensued before Ohtani and Yamamoto broke into laughter. See the video below:
Dodgers fans' Yoshinobu Yamamoto concerns evaporate after bounce-back performance
Yoshinobu Yamamoto made his Dodgers debut in game two of the Seoul Series against the San Diego Padres but was pulled after one inning. The Padres recorded five runs from that inning, and with Yamamoto on a $325 million deal, there were some concerns for Dodgers fans.
After the game, Yamamoto said that he would work on some areas of his game to improve:
“I wasn’t able to execute a pitch from the stretch. I know how to fix it, and I’m going to talk to my pitching coaches Mark (Prior) and Connor (McGuiness) and fix it for my next outing.”
That seemed to have an immediate effect, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto put in a strong showing in Sunday's 6-5 defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals. While the Dodgers may have lost, Yamamoto threw five scoreless innings and looked every part a keystone of the team's future.
Manager Dave Roberts spoke to the media about Yamamoto's performance after the game:
“You lose a ballgame, never feels good, but the main takeaway for us is that Yoshinobu had a tremendous night and that was the most positive thing for all of us.”
The Dodgers, 5-2, are atop the NL West after an 8-3 win against the San Francisco Giants on Monday and face the Giants again on Tuesday.