LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Tuesday that Blake Snell and Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto will pitch the first two games of the Major League Baseball World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Snell will start on the mound when the best-of-seven series opens Friday at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, with Yamamoto to get the ball the following day. The action shifts to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Monday.
The Dodgers have not named further starting pitchers, but Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani are in line for the third and fourth games, respectively, with Roberts indicating he will keep the rotation in the same order as the National League Championship Series.
“I think we’re going to run the same rotation back, I think for sure for the first two,” Roberts said.
Two-way superstar Ohtani put on a historic performance as he led the Dodgers to a NLCS Game 4 victory and series sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday, hitting three home runs while striking out 10 as the starting pitcher in the 5-1 win.
Yamamoto was outstanding in his most recent start a week ago, throwing the first complete game of his MLB career as he pitched the Dodgers to a 5-1 win on the road in NLCS Game 2.
While the Los Angeles starting rotation has been dominant in the playoffs, the bullpen remains a concern for the team as it attempts to become the first back-to-back World Series champion in 25 years.
After struggling with a shoulder injury that curtailed his MLB rookie season, Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki has emerged as a crucial reliever in the playoffs.
The Dodgers will look for the 23-year-old to continue his stellar postseason, in which he has allowed just one run on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts over eight innings.
AloJapan.com