Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named MVP of the 2025 World Series after a historic postseason with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yamamoto, who started against the Toronto Blue Jays in Friday’s must-win Game 6, returned to the mound the next day to close out Game 7.
The Dodgers secured a second straight World Series championship with a 5-4 extra-inning win on Saturday night in Toronto.
Yamamoto started out the World Series by pitching a complete game in a 5-1 Game 2 win in Toronto on Oct. 26.
He threw 73 strikes on 105 pitches in that start, which made him the first pitcher to record consecutive complete postseason games since Curt Schilling in 2001.
Yamamoto returned to the mound to start a must-win Game 6 on Oct. 31. This time he stayed in for six innings, throwing 63 strikes on 96 pitches while holding the Dodgers to one run on five hits.
The Dodgers then turned to their bullpen to close out a 3-1 win and force the Blue Jays to Game 7.
Less than 24 hours later, the Dodgers needed a closer to keep the game tied after the Blue Jays got two runners on base in the ninth inning of Game 7. Yamamoto stepped in for Snell to end the inning with a groundout and a flyout.
Yamamoto then returned for the 10th inning, where he retired the Blue Jays in order.
He ended the championship-clinching game by forcing Alejandro Kirk into a double play in the bottom of the 11th.
Yamamoto will finish the World Series having allowed just two earned runs while striking out 15 batters in 17.2 innings.
He is the first pitcher since Stephen Strasburg in 2019, and first Japanese player since Hideki Matsui in 2009, to finish out the Fall Classic as MVP.