Roberts believes Yamamoto will be in 'Cy Young conversation' if healthy

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Yoshinobu Yamamoto is capable of becoming the first Japanese pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win a Cy Young.

"If he can do that, obviously health (permitting), I see no reason why he won't be in the Cy Young conversation," Roberts said Tuesday after the right-hander pitched five strong innings in a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the Tokyo Series opener, according to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.

Yamamoto allowed three hits and one earned run while striking out four and walking one in front of his home country.

The 26-year-old dominated the Cubs with a fastball that touched 98 mph and a splitter that impressed Chicago manager Craig Counsell.

"His splits were outstanding tonight," Counsell said. "They're 93, 94 on the split-finger. It's a pitch that you hope to get a couple of free ones on because they're out of the zone. But he threw so many competitive splits. It's a really tough pitch to lay off."

Yamamoto's 2025 debut went far better than his first outing of last season, when he allowed five earned runs in one inning of work against the San Diego Padres in South Korea.

The rough debut was one of many during an inconsistent campaign for the hurler, who said he didn't really find his confidence last year until the Dodgers reached the postseason.

"What I experienced in that month really made me confident," Yamamoto said, translated from Japanese. "If I do this, I'll get hit. If I feel like this and do this, I'll be able to hold them. I didn't have a precise feel for that last season, but I gained that sense in October."

Yamamoto is one of three Japanese starters on the Dodgers - Roki Sasaki and Shohei Ohtani being the others - after inking a 12-year, $325-million deal before the 2024 campaign.