Given the state of the bullpens in this year's World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the pressure is on the starting pitchers to not only be effective, but also give tremendous length. Given the added pressure and the opponent he was facing, Yoshinobu Yamamoto couldn't have been much better on Saturday night.
Yamamoto delivered a complete-game performance when the Dodgers needed him most, and helped Los Angeles even their series against the Blue Jays at a game apiece with the scene now shifting to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Monday night. It's still anyone's series to win, but if the Dodgers are able to go back-to-back, this Yamamoto start will be a huge reason why.
Obviously, a complete game in the World Series is going to be considered one of the best outings of the postseason, but how great was this outing when compared to other postseason masterpieces we've seen over the last month?
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10) Max Fried, AL Wild Card G1 vs. Red Sox
Final line: 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks
The New York Yankees signed Max Fried to deliver ace-like performances in playoff games, and that's exactly what the lefty did in his postseason debut with the team. He delivered 6.1 shutout innings, allowing just four hits and three walks against the Boston Red Sox.
Fried wasn't exactly dominant, particularly in the middle innings, but he was able to escape every jam he was in and went toe-to-toe with Garrett Crochet. His job was to keep Boston off the board, and he did exactly that. An argument can be made that the Yankees should've kept him in the game longer. New York wound up losing this game, but obviously, it was far from Fried's fault.
It's weird to rank a start of 6.1 shutout innings as only the tenth-best outing of the postseason, but a look at the rest of the list will show you why.
9) Shohei Ohtani, NLCS G4 vs. Brewers
Final line: 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 10 Ks
If we're talking about overall performances, what Shohei Ohtani did in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers would top the list. He was able to throw six shutout innings and strike out 10 batters while also hitting three home runs in the Dodgers' win. When looking at only Ohtani's pitching, though, it isn't quite the best we've seen, but it was still pretty darn good.
Ohtani allowed just one hit through the first six innings, and was pulled after surrendering his second hit in the seventh inning. He helped give himself a lead offensively, and kept the Brewers off the board entirely on the mound. The only reason why this isn't ranked quite as highly comes down to the lack of pressure. The Dodgers were leading this series 3-0 and the Brewers had shown little life offensively.
8) Tarik Skubal, AL Wild Card G1 at Guardians
Final line: 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 14 Ks
Tarik Skubal made the first start of these playoffs and immediately raised the bar. Facing a Cleveland Guardians team that overtook his Detroit Tigers in the AL Central at the tail end of the regular season, Skubal couldn't have been much better, allowing just one run on three hits in 7.2 innings of work while striking out 14 batters.
It's one thing to set your career high in strikeouts against a good team; it's another to do so in what was essentially a must-win playoff game on the road. These were video game-like numbers against a Guardians team that had all sorts of favorable magic leading up to this game.
7) Garrett Crochet, AL Wild Card G1 at Yankees
Final line: 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 11 Ks
We talked about how brilliant Fried was in Game 1 of the Wild Card series, and I'd argue that Crochet was even better. Yes, he allowed a run and Fried did not, but Crochet also did not walk a batter, struck out 11 and was able to pitch an additional 1.1 innings.
The story of this game was Alex Cora's willingness to push Crochet and Aaron Boone's reluctance to do so with Fried. We can argue that Boone made the wrong decision, but the reason why Crochet was given extra leash comes down to how dominant he was. He wasn't allowing base runners and was blowing the Yankees away; the same cannot be said about Fried.
The Red Sox lost this series, but Crochet's ridiculous performance gave Boston every chance to advance past New York.
6) Cam Schlittler, AL Wild Card G3 vs. Red Sox
Final line: 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 12 Ks
The reason why the Red Sox were unable to advance past the Yankees comes down to Schlittler, who put the Yankees on his back in the winner-take-all Game 3. A rookie who had made only 14 regular-season starts prior to making his postseason debut, the righty delivered a start to remember on a night the Yankees desperately needed him to step up.
Schlittler pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and striking out 12 batters without issuing a single walk. He was seemingly only getting better as he retired each of his last nine batters, four of whom went down via strikeout.
5) Trey Yesavage, ALDS G1 vs. Yankees
Final line: 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 11 Ks
If you thought Schlittler was inexperienced, allow me to introduce you to Yesavage, whose postseason debut for the Toronto Blue Jays was his fourth-ever big league start. Yesavage was tasked with facing the Yankees in front of a boisterous Rogers Centre crowd in the ALDS.
It's safe to say the right-hander was up to the challenge. Pitching well would've been one thing, but he pitched 5.1 hitless innings and 11 of his 16 outs recorded were strikeouts. The only base runner he allowed was a first-inning walk to Aaron Judge. He retired 15 of the final 16 batters he'd face, with the only runner reaching base via an error.
I can understand ranking this lower than I am, since Yesavage only went 5.1 innings, but when looking at the sheer dominance, I'm not sure anyone has been better. Combining that with his lack of experience entering this game, this placement feels justified.
4) Tarik Skubal, ALDS G5 at Mariners
Final line: 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 13 Ks
You can't face much more pressure than Skubal did in Game 5 of the ALDS. He was tasked with facing a Seattle Mariners team that had just beaten him in Game 2, on the road, in a winner-take-all game. Skubal not only pitched well for a second straight time against Seattle, but he was even better in this outing than he was in Game 2.
He allowed one run on two hits and struck out 13 batters without allowing a single walk. He left this game with the Tigers ahead 2-1, needing the bullpen to record nine outs to send them to the ALCS. He didn't go quite as deep or strike out as many batters as he did in his Wild Card outing, but the stakes were far higher in this game, considering the round, the opponent and the fact that this was a winner-take-all contest. That's why this is ranked higher than Skubal's other start, even in what amounted to a Tigers loss.
3) Yoshinobu Yamamoto, NLCS G2, at Brewers
Final line: 9.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks
Yamamoto didn't pitch well in his lone NLDS start, but as the competition got tougher and the stakes got higher, the right-hander couldn't have been much better. Tasked with starting Game 2 of the NLCS against a Milwaukee Brewers team that finished the regular season with the best record in the Majors, Yamamoto allowed just one run on three hits, striking out seven batters and walking one in a complete game effort.
Yup: Yamamoto went the full nine against the No. 1 overall seed. Say what you want about the Brewers, but they were in the NLCS for a reason, and Yamamoto, on the road, completely shut them down. What makes this even more impressive is that Yamamoto allowed a leadoff home run and then proceeded to allow just two hits and one walk the rest of the way. It was quite a performance, and made it clear that the Dodgers were almost certainly going to advance to the World Series.
2) Blake Snell, NLCS G1 at Brewers
Final line: 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 10 Ks
Yamamoto's start against the Brewers was outstanding, but I think Blake Snell's outing in Game 1 of the series was just a little bit better. Yes, Yamamoto was able to complete nine innings, but Snell was able to keep the Brewers off the board entirely through eight, allowing just one hit and striking out 10 without walking a single batter.
Snell allowed a total of one baserunner on the night, and that runner, Caleb Durbin, was picked off of first base, so he wound up facing the minimum through eight innings of work. What's perhaps the most impressive factor in this start was that the Dodgers were struggling to score runs, too. Snell had to go toe-to-toe against the Brewers' pitching staff on the road, and despite only having one run of breathing room for much of the night, he was in complete command.
1) Yoshinobu Yamamoto, World Series G2 at Blue Jays
Final line: 9.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks
I believe Snell has had the most dominant postseason start thus far, but what Yamamoto was able to do in Saturday's game just cannot be overstated. The stat line was awfully similar to the one he had in his complete game in Milwaukee, but the opponent was tougher, and obviously, pitching in the World Series is a whole lot more stressful than pitching in the NLCS, especially with the Dodgers trailing 1-0 after Snell got rocked 24 hours prior.
What really stood out about this start from Yamamoto was that he didn't get off to the best of starts. The Blue Jays had runners on the corners and nobody out in the first inning. Yamamoto could've easily folded right there, but he kept the Jays off the board entirely. He caught a bad break in the second inning when Freddie Freeman botched a pop-up, and rather than folding, he kept Toronto off the board in that frame. He allowed a run in the third, but limited the damage there and then locked in.
Yamamoto retired the final 20 batters he'd face, with most of those outs coming in incredibly high-pressure situations. He was able to take control of a game that featured what looked like an unstoppable lineup, and even struck out eight. This, when considering the magnitude of the outing, was the best start we've seen this postseason thus far.