The Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday switched their first two starters for the National League Division Series, deciding to start Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 1 on Saturday against the San Diego Padres and going with fellow right-hander Jack Flaherty in Game 2 on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers said Flaherty would start Game 1 and Yamamoto would follow in the best-of-five series.
Los Angeles President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said the decision to flip the starters wasn¡¯t performance-based. He said pitching the opener would make Yamamoto available for Game 5, if necessary.
¡°Yoshi hasn¡¯t pitched on a regular (basis),¡± Friedman said. ¡°Jack¡¯s more accustomed to it. Depending on ¡¯pen usage throughout, it allows us that flexibility in Game 5, if there is one. So it¡¯s just about having more options.¡±
Friedman said Yamamoto was fine with the switch.
¡°He was like, ¡¯I was going to throw a ¡¯pen either way today or tomorrow. I¡¯m doing it today. I¡¯m great. I¡¯m ready for whatever you guys want.¡¯¡± Friedman said. ¡°He was excited.¡±
San Diego is starting Dylan Cease in the opener in Los Angeles with fellow right-hander Yu Darvish pitching Game 2.
The Padres are also bracing for the return of medical tests performed on right-hander Joe Musgrove. He exited San Diego¡¯s 5-4 clinching victory over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday in the wild-card series due to right elbow tightness.
Musgrove, 31, departed after 3? innings. He twice was sidelined by elbow issues in the regular season.
Yamamoto missed nearly three months with a shoulder issue in his first season in the majors. The 26-year-old went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts.
Flaherty, who turns 29 on Oct. 15, was acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline and went 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 starts with Los Angeles.
Cease, 28, threw the second no-hitter in Padres history in his first season with the club. Musgrove tossed the first in 2021.
Cease was 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA in 33 starts. Darvish, 38, went 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 16 starts.
Right-hander Michael King is expected to start Game 3 on Tuesday, when the series moves to San Diego. King struck out 12 in seven innings in the Padres¡¯ 4-0 win over the Braves in Game 1 of the wild-card series Tuesday. The 29-year-old went 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA in 30 regular-season starts and one relief appearance.
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