Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers and catchers held their first official workout of 2024 Spring Training on Friday morning, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto among those to throw a bullpen session.
Along with Shohei Ohtani and more Dodgers teammates, Yamamoto reported to Camelback Ranch ahead of the mandatory date. The Dodgers are holding their first full-squad workout on Valentine’s Day.
Yamamoto’s training routine includes working with weighted balls and throwing a javelin. That garnered plenty of intrigue as the 25-year-old was in the midst of meeting with teams during free agency.
One interested club gifted a team-branded javelin to Yamamoto as part of their recruiting effort.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto doing his javelin training out at @camelbackranch 👀
(🎥: @fullcountmlbc2) pic.twitter.com/yQfVD1GLNd— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) February 9, 2024
“It’s impressive, and it worked,” Yamamoto’s agent Joel Wolfe said after the introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium. “And a lot of the work that he does is injury prevention-type stuff. So I think that gave the Dodgers a lot of comfort in giving them such a lengthy contract.”
In addition to his continued use of the javelin, the Dodgers arehired Yamamoto’s trainer and have an interest in learning more about his program.
That extends to SportsNet LA broadcaster Orel Hershiser as well.
“It’s going to be fun. I’m starting to read some articles on it and get ready,” Hershiser told DodgerBlue.com. “Every generation that has an exceptional player, they kind of spread their wings and go, ‘There’s more. There’s more.’ They look to Olympians, they look to other sports, they look to new things that are coming in the medical industry.”
Dodgers Spring Training report: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yamamoto played catch with Walker Buehler before throwing his bullpen session on a backfield. Much of the spring will be about getting the former Nippon Professional Baseball ace adjusted to the rigors and schedule of an MLB pitcher.
The Dodgers have not yet revealed when Yamamoto will start in a Cactus League game.
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