Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the start for an afternoon matchup with the Washington Nationals. He was tasked with keeping Washington’s young hitters quiet and did well going six strong innings giving up just one run.
In the fifth inning, Yamamoto ran into a scary situation. He grooved a pitch in the middle of the strike zone to Eddie Rosario who got every stitch of that ball, and sent it straight back to Yamamoto.
Watch the clip below, courtesy of LA journalist Howard Cole:
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Fortunately, Yamamoto has cat-like reflexes and was able to save his face and make the catch. The ball came off the bat at 104.8 mph and could have seriously done some damage if Yamamoto did not get his glove up in time.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s reflexes saved him
Comebackers are nothing new in the game of baseball. Pitchers have often had to defend their lives on the mound after a screamer makes their way back up to the mound. Yoshinobu Yamamoto showed just how dangerous this game can be in the Dodgers victory over the Nationals on Thursday.
Yamamoto’s catch mirrored Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jeff Jeffress’ catch back in 2019. the hard-throwing righty saw a comebacker nearly took his head off if he did not get his glove up.
For all the amazing catches on a comebacker that fans have seen, there are also ones that were not caught. MLB Hall of Famer Mike Mussina was on the wrong end of a comebacker in 1998 when he was with the Baltimore Orioles.
After being hit by the line drive, he missed a month of the season. While coming back, it was the mental part that was challenging. Mussina worried for some time that every pitch would come right back at him.
Luckily, Yamamoto will not have to go through that.
