The decision is unsurprising considering how effective Dodgers starters have been thus far in October.
Snell and Yamamoto have combined to earn wins in five of the six games they’ve started, fronting a spectacular Dodgers rotation that leads the post-season in percentage of innings pitched by starters.
Snell and Yamamoto drew the same assignment, starting Game 1 and 2, respectively, in both their wild-card series against the Cincinnati Reds and the in the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Dodgers swept both series.
A two-time Cy Young winner, Snell has pitched to a 0.86 ERA with 28 strikeouts and five walks over 21 innings this post-season. He shut down the Brewers’ top-10 offence in Game 1 of the NLCS, striking out 10 over eight innings of one-hit ball.
He became the first Dodgers pitcher to complete eight innings while allowing one hit or fewer in a post-season game.
Yamamoto has been a sensational No. 2, recording a 1.83 ERA with 18 strikeouts and four walks over 19.2 innings. He threw the first post-season complete game in eight years in Game 2 against the Brewers, allowing one run and three hits.
Dodgers starters have pitched a staggering 62 per cent of their innings in the playoffs, a stark contrast to the 42 per cent that starters pitched in the team’s 2024 World Series run.
Roberts said the team hasn’t decided on starters for Games 3 and 4, which will be back at Dodger Stadium, but indicated Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani could follow in that order.
“I think we’re going to run the same rotation back, I think for sure for the first two,” he said.
Ohtani had 10 strikeouts and hit three home runs in Game 4 to clinch a second straight trip to the World Series. Ohtani was selected MVP of the series.
Dodgers starters combined for 35 strikeouts in the NLCS. Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani posted a 0.63 ERA against the Brewers, with two earned runs in 28.2 innings.
Roberts said the bullpen lineup is still being discussed, with the Blue Jays’ lineup featuring some right-handed power hitters that the Dodgers didn’t have to contend with previously.
“There’s one spot that we could potentially kind of debate, and will continue to debate,” Roberts said. “Outside of that one spot, it’s probably going to look exactly the same.”
Reliever Tanner Scott is eligible for the World Series roster after being removed from the NL Division Series roster. He had an emergency surgical procedure and said he is feeling good now.
“It’s just kind of trying to get a grasp on the doctors giving him the full kind of green light, the go-ahead,” Roberts said. “I know that he’s anxious, which is a good thing, but fortunately, we get to see for a couple more days how he responds to throwing and bullpens and things like that.”
– With files from The Associated Press
