{"id":778139,"date":"2026-08-14T02:21:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/778139\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T02:21:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:21:29","slug":"why-yoshinobu-yamamoto-could-start-game-1-of-postseason-over-tarik-skubal-for-dodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/778139\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Yoshinobu Yamamoto could start Game 1 of postseason over Tarik Skubal for Dodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> will try to become the National League’s first club to win three consecutive World Series titles this October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once again, they are the heavy favorites.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It helps to have a lineup filled with former MVPs and All-Stars, and their starting rotation is undoubtedly top three in the Majors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking of the Dodgers’ rotation, manager Dave Roberts has a problem on his hands for Game 1 of the NLDS. Truthfully, it’s a good issue for Roberts to have.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Los Angeles could appoint Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Tarik Skubal as its Game 1 starter, but does it really matter which ace Roberts selects?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why Yamamoto could start Game 1 over Skubal<\/p>\n

“The Dodgers traded for Tarik Skubal, winner of the last two AL Cy Young Awards, and yet it would surprise no one if Yamamoto were their choice for Game 1 of their first playoff series,” ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez<\/a> wrote. “He has cemented himself as the ace of this Dodgers’ staff.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yamamoto won last year’s World Series MVP, recording the final eight outs in Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>. He accomplished the feat on zero days’ rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there’s a strong chance that Skubal would be the No. 1 starter for every other playoff team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Dodgers prospect Kendall George to undergo knee surgery months after viral bat dog incident<\/a><\/p>\n

Jacob Misiorowski, Critopher Sanchez, and Cam Schlittler may be the only other starters who could receive the nod over Skubal. But that’s no guarantee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“And though he won’t win the Cy Young in a year in which Misiorowski and Sanchez have been so dominant, the thought by many is that Yamamoto eventually becoming the first Japanese-born pitcher to win the award is an inevitability,” Gonzalez wrote. “We are watching a master craftsman at the peak of his powers.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have a win-win situation with their Yamamoto and Skubal decision. Not to mention, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow round out their top four starters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More MLB news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Dodgers will try to become the National League’s first club to win three consecutive World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[5,2328,2304,4,2305,2303],"class_list":["post-778139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb-postseason","tag-baseball","tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-playoffs","tag-mlb-postseason"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117091479290366289","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}