‘He’s our ace’: Inside Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s crucial second-year rise with the Dodgers

One of the early contenders for the National League Cy Young Award stands under 6 feet tall. He defies convention, not only with his size but also with the way he eschews traditional training methods in favor of more unorthodox routines. 

In the time between Yoshinobu Yamamoto's starts, every throw is calculated, every move treated with precision and care. He favors flexibility, movement and coordination over brawn. 

You won’t find him lifting weights, but you might see him on the warning track launching javelins through the sky or treating long-toss sessions as if he were on the mound finishing off a complete-game shutout. 

That hasn’t happened yet through 29 career big-league starts, though he’s getting increasingly closer. 

This month alone, Yamamoto has taken one no-hitter into the sixth inning and another into the seventh. He has gone at least six innings in seven of his last nine starts, amassed the lowest ERA among qualified National League starters and become the steadying force a beleaguered rotation needs him to be. 

He is developing into the star the Dodgers envisioned when they made him the highest-paid pitcher in the sport a year ago. 

"He’s our ace," Dave Roberts put succinctly.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts embraces pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto after holding the Yankees to one run in Game two of the World Series at Dodger Stadium. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The Dodgers manager is careful not to throw that term around flippantly. He knows how few of them there are in the big leagues and the expectations the label brings. An ace needs a track record of success. An ace needs to handle both lefties and righties with aplomb. An ace needs to go deep into games. 

And, sometimes, an ace