SURPRISE, Arizona This spring, the Texas Rangers became the first team to see Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s arm. At Surprise Stadium on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander made his Cactus League debut and struck out three in two shutout innings. “He possesses quality stuff. That’s evident, really,” said Bruce Bochy, manager of the Rangers. “That’s why they signed him to that deal he got.”
The 12-year, $325 million contract has contributed to the old NPB League in Japan becoming a media darling. Evan Carter was the only player he let reach base during his 16 strikes and 3 balls outing against the Rangers. He had a powerful split-fingered fastball and a moving upper 90s heater.
“He throws with incredible force. Carter, who had the lone hit against the 25-year-old, grounded a single to center. “He’s quick to the plate and he’s got a lot of vertical on his fastball,” Carter said. I thus just intended to arrive on schedule, if not a little early, and consider simply hitting a line drive up the center. It was a wise strategy, and it came to pass.” Bochy stated that hitters will have difficulty matching Yamamoto’s mix of a diving splitter and a riding fastball when he throws strikes.
“He’s gonna be a tough challenge for any team that he faces,” he stated. “He’s got that split to go with that velocity and that good breaking ball; he throws strikes.” In addition to Yamamoto’s powerful stuff, Bochy claimed that his delivery may confuse some batters.
He looks a little different. He sets up shop and gives you a brief introduction. His fastball gets on you, and he has a quick arm,” he remarked. “It’s obvious they’ve signed a really, really nice pitcher.” Carter’s strategy against Yamamoto was straightforward: arrive on time.
“Definitely, against somebody like him, you don’t want to just go up there and be guessing and hoping things go good,” Carter stated. “From what I could see, his splitter appears to be his strongest pitch when viewed from the side. He threw me a fastball that had the potential to change into a splitter in an instant. Fortunately, it was invisible to it. The down and in cutter-slider combination will perform really well.”
HECTOR ORTIZ, RIP Longtime Major and Minor League coach Hector Ortiz passed away Wednesday morning after fighting illness for a number of years. The Rangers organization honored him. 54 was his age. The Rangers posted on social media and released a statement saying, “The organization sends its thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.”
QUOTABLES “Throw merely half a billion; you don’t need to throw a billion. It succeeded because I threw straight strikes.” Rangers reliever Josh Sborz on what catcher Jonah Heim told him on Wednesday during their mound visit during Sborz’s spring debut
“You return to Mike Scott from the middle of the 1980s.” He greatly increased its popularity. However, pitchers were already employing it before that, though its use in the game has increased since then. It’s really difficult to read this proposal. It’s launching like a fastball and ending with a dip. It’s simply such a difficult pitch to understand because you can throw it like a fastball with the arm speed.” Bruce Bochy, the manager of the Rangers, discusses the split-fingered fastball
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