MLB

His advanced analytics have tanked, going from an above-league-average mark in Statcast’s “outs above average” metric in 2024 to the third-lowest grade of any qualified MLB third baseman this season.

Even in stretches when his batting average hovered around the Mendoza Line, or his strikeout total climbed MLB leaderboards, his ability to slug had been the great equalizer.

In the National League Championship Series, he set an MLB postseason record by reaching base 12 consecutive times.

“I feel bad for these guys,” bench coach Danny Lehmann, a key voice in the team’s game-planning meetings, said of the challenges Yamamoto and other Japanese imports face early in their MLB careers.

But for Yamamoto, the second-year big leaguer blossoming as one of the sport’s best starters, it was a sign of how far — and how quickly — his young MLB career has progressed.