Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing compared two-way player Shohei Ohtani to his ace teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Rushing came up to the major leagues earlier this year and has had the privilege of catching for both All-Stars during his young MLB career.
“I mean, he’s kind of like (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) in a way,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “He’s got so many pitches, and when you throw everything in the zone or around the zone, it just makes you that much better.”
Ohtani utilizes seven pitches in his arsenal, a four seamer, sweeper, slider, sinker, curveball, splitter and cutter. He has thrown each of those pitches at least five percent of the team this season. He also has a 63.4 first pitch strike percentage and a 53.8 zone percentage, both of which are the highest marks of his career so far.
The three-time MVP’s ability to effectively pound the zone has given him the second highest strikeout rate of his career so far, and has brought him success on the mound as well. He has a 4.18 ERA this season, though it is largely inflated by two of his four starts in August, during which he allowed nine runs.
Yamamoto also uses a wide array of pitches, though not quite as many as Ohtani. Yamamoto throws a four seamer, splitter, curveball, cutter, sinker and slider on a regular basis. He throws all of those pitches five or more percent of the time except for his slider, which he looks to 2.8 percent of the time.
Ohtani and Yamamoto’s abilities make a formidable one-two punch in the Dodgers rotation, and the team will look to the duo to deliver them their second consecutive World Series title. Before the postseason though, the Dodgers need to take care of the rest of the regular season.
They are currently two games ahead of the San Diego Padres with no games left to play against their rivals this season. They’ll hope to carry the momentum from their four-game win streak into their next series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where they will hope to distance themselves even further from the Padres.
Their opening game against the Diamondbacks comes on Friday at 7:10 p.m. PT.
