Yoshinobu Yamamoto named Dodgers opening-day

PHOENIX — It’s only becoming that the pitcher who recorded the Dodgers’ closing eight outs of the World Series will take the mound on opening day, as the club tries to pick up where it left off in 2025 and chase a third straight championship in 2026.

Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts said Monday that World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will toe the rubber for the March 26 opener at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks — the second straight year he’s had the honor and the first time at home, after pitching last season’s opener in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs.

Roberts added Yamamoto is expected to return to Camelback Ranch soon, after participating in the World Baseball Classic with Team Japan. The Samurai Warriors, seeking a second straight WBC title, were eliminated by Team Venezuela Saturday night in the quarterfinals.

Yamamoto is expected to make one more start in the Cactus League before opening day, although the date has yet to be scheduled, according to Roberts.

Shohei Ohtani returned to Dodgers camp Monday morning, and Roberts plans to have a dialog with him soon about configuring his throwing plan main up to common season play. Per Roberts, Ohtani threw 4 innings in a simulated sport while with Team Japan last Thursday.

“He’s going to get here and throw a bullpen,” Roberts said, including: “I’m trying to figure out when we can get him into a game, but it should be here in the next day or two, to take some at bats. But as far as his progression, there’s going to be a bullpen soon, and [we’re] trying to figure out what day he’s going to pitch this week. It should be this week, but I’m not sure which day yet.”

Ohtani has not pitched in a Cactus League sport and didn’t pitch in the WBC. Roberts doesn’t count on the four-time MVP to be absolutely stretched out by the start of the common season. Still, as Roberts notes, he’s additional along than he was at this time a 12 months in the past, when he was working his means back from Tommy John surgical procedure.

“I think this year we’re certainly north of that, I don’t see how we won’t be able to get to three or four innings in a major league game, so that’s certainly a better jumping-off point than last year, so we’ll see how it goes,” Roberts said.

Beyond Yamamoto, Ohtani and trusty veteran Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers’ back end of the rotation is still taking form. Though Roberts had thought of a six-man rotation to start common season play, he indicated Monday that he expects the membership to use a five-man rotation, noting that issues are still “fluid.”

Last week, Roberts said he “didn’t see a world in which Roki Sasaki doesn’t break [camp] as a starter.” That would depart one rotation spot up for the taking, with 25-year-old Justin Wrobleski, 26-year-old Emmet Sheehan and 27-year-old River Ryan among those in the working.