Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (27), who has emerged as the ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has been selected as the National League (NL) Pitcher of the Month. In his first appearance in May, he dominated until there were two outs in the sixth inning, returning to a sub-1.00 earned run average.

On the 3rd (Korea time), Yamamoto started in an away game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and pitched six innings, allowing one hit, two walks, and striking out six without allowing any runs. He left the game with the Dodgers leading 2-0, achieving his sixth win of the season.

Yamamoto, who made his Major League debut in December 2023 with a record-setting 12-year, $325 million contract, pitched in only 18 games (90 innings) last year due to a shoulder injury but contributed to the World Series victory with a record of 7 wins, 2 losses, a 3.00 earned run average, and 105 strikeouts.

This year, in his second season, he is showing his worth with an explosive performance, living up to his valued contract. As of his appearance that day, he had recorded 3 wins, 2 losses, a 1.06 earned run average, and 43 strikeouts over 6 games (34 innings), earning him the NL April Pitcher of the Month.

In his previous start on the 26th of last month against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he had his worst outing of the season, pitching 5 innings, allowing 5 hits, 4 walks, and 3 earned runs, resulting in a loss. However, that day he pitched six scoreless innings, lowering his earned run average from 1.06 to 0.90.

He showcased overwhelming pitching, even throwing a no-hitter until he gave up a double to Austin Riley in the sixth inning with two outs. He instinctively caught a sharp ground ball hit from Sean Murphy in the second inning, and his quick base coverage was notable.

He struggled only against Marcel Ozuna, allowing walks to Ozuna in the first and fourth innings, but he managed to get a ground ball out to third base after an eight-pitch battle in the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on second base, concluding without any runs allowed.

He threw a total of 91 pitches, reaching a top speed of 96.4 miles per hour, with an average of 94.7 miles per hour on his four-seam fastball (27 pitches), along with a splitter (27 pitches), curveball (17 pitches), cutter (13 pitches), sinker (5 pitches), and slider (2 pitches). The movement and control of all his pitches were perfect, allowing him to use them as strikeout pitches.

With his sixth win, if Yamamoto continues his momentum, he could become the first Asian pitcher to earn a Major League Cy Young Award.

In 2006, Taiwanese right-hander Wang Chien-Ming of the New York Yankees, Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers in 2013, Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-Jin of the Dodgers in 2019, and Japanese pitcher Darvish of the Chicago Cubs and Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda of the Minnesota Twins in 2020 have reached the second place in the Cy Young Award voting five times, but none have won the award.

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