Dodgers return Yamamoto to Game 1, Flaherty to Game 2 for NLDS vs. Padres – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES — It wouldn’t be a Dodgers postseason without an unexpected pitching choice.

Rookie right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday night, not Jack Flaherty as expected — and even suggested by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts last week and executive General Brandon Gomes on Wednesday. .

Flaherty, the right-hander acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, will start Game 2 on Sunday.

The move creates more “options” for a potential winner-take-all Game 5, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said during Thursday’s practice at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers did not start Yamamoto — who signed a record $325 million, 12-year contract in December — on less than five days of rest all season, keeping his schedule as close to a rotation as times a week that he knew. in Japan. If he started Game 2, he would get four days of rest for a Game 5. Now, Yamamoto (on five days of rest) and Flaherty (on four days of rest) will be available for a potential Game 5 – with the another set to start the first game of a best-of-seven NL Championship Series if the Dodgers advance.

“It just creates options,” Friedman said. “If there’s a Game 5, depending on our pen usage, we can have these guys win the game, we can have one with our pen. It just creates flexibility for things that we can’t know right now, namely how are our throws used in games 1-4 and just having as many options as possible?

Friedman wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Yamamoto — who went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts this season — could get four days off at some point during the postseason.

“He was great,” Friedman said of Yamamoto’s reaction to the assignment. “He told me, ‘I was going to throw a pen today or tomorrow, I’m doing it today. I’m awesome. I am ready to do whatever you want. He was excited.

“I went through the logic. Everyone understood it. They were enthusiastic.

The Dodgers view Yamamoto’s start at Yankee Stadium in June as a positive indicator that he will live up to the big moment in his first playoff game. The 26-year-old right-hander limited the powerful New York Yankees to two hits in seven scoreless innings.

“To go into a hostile environment like that and see him elevate his game — we talked about it at the time, it’s not an easy thing to do, especially the first time,” Friedman said. “The only thing we’re really confident about is that the timing won’t affect it. He’ll absorb it, feed off that adrenaline and do what he does.