00:00So Yoshinobu Yamamoto got my gears turning a little bit in my head.
00:05And I thought, okay, this guy's a $325 million pitcher.
00:10So far this year, he's made 27 starts at a 2.72 ERA.
00:15Since he debuted last year, he's top five in all of baseball in ERA.
00:20The only guys ahead of him are Skeens, Scooble, Sale, and Wheeler.
00:25Why does he still feel underappreciated?
00:28And I got to thinking, it's because when we think of the Dodgers, it's, oh, this guy's hurt, right?
00:35Snell was hurt.
00:36Now he's back.
00:36You're curious to watch Snell starts.
00:39Tyler Glasnow's hurt.
00:40Clayton Kershaw's amazing.
00:41He just got his 3,000th strikeout.
00:45Shohei Otani's amazing.
00:46Freddie Freeman, he's awesome.
00:48Mookie Betts is struggling.
00:49Why?
00:50Teoscar Hernandez can't play right field anymore.
00:52What's going on with Conforto?
00:53The guy lost in the shuffle is one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball that's making $325 million.
01:00That jumped out to me, and I started to think about who are the underappreciated pitchers in baseball, and why are they underappreciated?
01:07And Yamamoto jumps out to me because he's so far down on the list of headlines for the Dodgers.
01:12And Sanchez, simply put, he's not sexy.
01:15But it works, and it's been working for years.
01:17What makes a pitcher underappreciated in your eyes?
01:20It's funny.
01:22I guess it's just now the modern day of it.
01:24It's just how much are we getting inundated with their clips and stats and stuff every time we scroll on social?
01:30And to be honest, it's not enough with those two.
01:33And I think that's a big part.
01:34And then it's airtime and all that good stuff.
01:36But I also just think you put the conversation together of, since this date, Yamamoto has been doing X, which puts him with pitchers Y, Z, and W, which you just did.
01:50And all of the pitchers that you listed alongside get more airtime than him.
01:54So I think that's a really good way to put it, you know, I think put that case together of who's the most underrated of this group or underappreciated.
02:01It's the guy that's not getting as much discussion as the players who are statistically right around him.
02:09And I think the interesting thing with Yamamoto, too, is when you're on a team like that and the expectations are so high and you meet your expectations, it's almost a good thing to be under the radar in that regard.
02:21That means you're doing your job, right?
02:22But at the same time, I think his contract put him in a spot where it really, I think, causes fans to underestimate how impressive it is what he's doing.
02:34Yes, he got paid to do this, but to come over from Japan and immediately make the impact that he's making.
02:41And mind you, he had an injury last year, a shoulder thing, that we were pretty confident.
02:45Like, he's javelin throwing.
02:47This guy's got it figured out.
02:48He's going to get himself back.
02:49And he did.
02:50And he came back as strong as ever.
02:51And then made some big postseason starts for them.
02:54And then, you know, he's done what he's done this year.
02:56He's been awesome.
02:58And then I think you look at the Christopher Sanchez side.
03:00I think it is because it's not sexy.
03:02And he just goes out there and picks your lineup apart.
03:05Doesn't maybe pop up in any crazy stat queries or things like that.
03:09But, I mean, Yamamoto was one out away from throwing a no-hitter.
03:13And then I think we would have saw a little bit more of love for him if he had got that.
03:17But I think we'll see it in the postseason when more eyeballs are there.
03:19Because this guy has the complete pitch mix.
03:22And that's the difference, right?
03:23Like, and that's why when I was writing up the scouting report on him before he was coming, as he was coming over, felt so good about his chances of succeeding in the big leagues.
03:30Because it's a deep bag of pitches that are all really, really good.
03:36And he executes all of them.
03:38You look at the Holiday homer.
03:40And I think Rob Friedman, Pitching Ninja, put this out.
03:43He had where the catcher was set up on that.
03:46And Yamamoto dotted that on the inside rail of the strike zone.
03:49And Holiday just got his hands in and belted it to the right field.
03:52Was it, you know, a mistake spot?
03:54I don't know.
03:55That's for you to decide.
03:56That's for the scouting report.
03:57But at the end of the day, Yamamoto hit his spot to a tee on pitch number 112 of his start.
04:03This guy's a gamer.
04:04And I do think the love is going to build up, to your point, in the postseason.
04:08Because you will see the postseason ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, shine through.
04:13But people are going to be obsessed with the Otani start.
04:15People are going to be obsessed with, you know, the possible Kershaw start in the postseason.
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