Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the ball for the Dodgers on the kind of night that could push a good run into something even better. Los Angeles is trying to finish off a home sweep of the Reds for the second straight time and, with a win, could stretch its current streak to seven games.
There’s also a small milestone hanging out there for Yamamoto. If he somehow works 7.2 innings against Cincinnati, he could match last season’s regular-season innings total despite having four fewer regular-season starts. That’s a long ask, even if he’s already cleared that workload mark five times this year.
What stands out most about Yamamoto’s season is how different the path has been, even if the destination looks familiar. He’s still sitting at an identical 12-8 record and delivering the same high-end quality, but the shape of the work has changed.
His strikeout rate has dropped from 29.5% to 25.4%, while his walk rate has improved sharply, sliding from 8.6% last season to 6.0% now. The result has been cleaner, more efficient outings that have helped him pile up innings with fewer starts.
Even so, the strikeouts have been ticking up lately. The World Series MVP has fanned eight or more in each of his last five starts, a notable jump from earlier in the year, when he reached that mark in only five of his first 20 outings.
That trend meets a Cincinnati lineup that has been striking out more than any other in baseball, with a 25.4% K%. The Reds have already shown that side of themselves in this series. Emmet Sheehan matched his career high with 10 strikeouts against them earlier in the week, and Yamamoto’s own stateside high is also 10, set in early July in a win over the Padres.
In Other News...
Rays Fans May Already Be Questioning This Trade Return
When the Dodgers and Rays completed the swap for Jack Suwinski and other considerations, it looked like the kind of smaller baseball trade that can be easy to overlook in the moment. But Hunter Feduccia has already fit into a backup role in Los Angeles, and the more interesting piece may be Jacob Kmatz, a pitcher the Dodgers like enough to slot among the better arms in their minor league system.
Kmatz has backed up that interest with a strong start in Double-A, where his results and pitch mix have stood out. For a Tampa Bay front office that likes to squeeze value out of every deal, the early return is the part worth watching now, because the longer Kmatz keeps pitching this well, the harder it gets to treat this as just another depth move. [Read more 🡒]
Tarik Skubal Just Revealed A Dodgers Advantage Tigers Fans Know Too Well
Tarik Skubal has settled in quickly since landing with the Dodgers, giving them another arm as they keep pushing through a strong 2026 season. The fit has already looked natural on the field, but one small detail off it has underscored just how different life can be in Los Angeles compared with where he came from in Detroit.
Max Muncy recently pointed out a quirk about the Tigers old travel setup, noting that their previous team plane could not make cross-country trips without stopping for fuel. The Dodgers, by contrast, travel with two separate planes for players and staff on road trips, a reminder that the margins between teams are not always about talent alone. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Suddenly Have A Shohei Ohtani Problem They Cant Ignore
The Dodgers are trying to navigate a late-season stretch without two of their most important bats in Wednesdays lineup, and the absence of Shohei Ohtani immediately stands out. Los Angeles also left Freddie Freeman out, leaving Dave Roberts to manage a day in which the club is protecting regulars while trying to keep the offense steady. Ohtanis situation is the more unsettling one, especially with the club still sorting through how he feels after a recent swing.
Roberts said Ohtani has not fully recovered and did not feel well after that swing, which is enough to put an injured list stint on the table if the discomfort lingers. Freemans right knee discomfort appears less severe for now, with the expectation that he will not need the injured list. Still, the Dodgers are staring at a stretch in which they may have to answer more questions than they expected about how long they can go without their biggest names in the lineup. [Read more 🡒]