Yoshinobu Yamamoto — 2026 Season

2026 Season Stats

Pitching stats and MLB-wide rank · 2026 Season

Stat	2026	MLB Rank
ERA	2.53	—
WHIP	.87	—
W	14	MLB #9
L	9	—
K	182	MLB #21
IP	185.0	—
SV	0	—
GS	28	—

2026 Season Highlights

As of 10/1, Yoshinobu Yamamoto remains active in the Dodgers' rotation and has posted excellent run prevention and traffic control again this season. He has built on last year's form by working deeper into the season while limiting baserunners with few walks. A 2025 World Series MVP, he continues to anchor the Dodgers' starting staff.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto enters 2026 as arguably the most complete pitcher on one of baseball's most storied rosters. After his injury-shortened 2024 debut (18 starts), he came back with a historic 2025 campaign: 30 starts, 2.49 ERA, 201 strikeouts, 0.99 WHIP — and then dominated the World Series with three outings and a 1.02 ERA to claim Series MVP honors, becoming only the second Japanese player to win the award. His pitching is built not on overpowering velocity (94–95mph fastball) but on an elite command profile (BB/9 under 1.9), four genuine weapons, and a corkscrew arm action that generates late movement and deception through release-point disguise. The splitter is the crown jewel — thrown in the 88–90mph range with sharp downward and arm-side movement, it becomes almost unhittable when paired with his four-seam fastball tunneling. In 2026, Yamamoto is refining the formula that already earned World Series glory: better late-inning durability, lower walk rates, and the kind of consistent sub-3.00 FIP that makes a legitimate Cy Young campaign possible. All 2026 stats are updated daily on this page.

1He has made every appearance as a starter this season and keeps his ERA and WHIP at elite levels. He is throwing more innings than last year while walking fewer batters, which points to even greater consistency.
2In Japan he won the Sawamura Award three straight years (2021–2023) and led the league in ERA four times. He is also only the second Japanese player to be named World Series MVP, earning the honor in 2025.
3With the season entering its final stretch, he is still taking the ball as an active starter, so how he pitches from here is worth watching. It will also be interesting to see how this 2023 WBC champion performs on the biggest stages.

DETAIL · ANALYSIS

Detailed Analysis

In-depth metrics aggregated from every at-bat and pitch.

Data as of: 2026-11-08

Expand detailed analysis ▾

Recent Form (Last 10 Starts)

3-GAME HOT

Older games on the left, most recent on the right. Color shows how they played. Regular season games only.

Best: 6IP+ / ≤1ER · Good: 5IP+ / ≤2ER · OK: 4IP+ / ≤3ER · 4ER · ≥5ER (blowup)

Pitch Arsenal

Current season pitch data by type. Velocity, spin rate, movement, whiff rate, and CSW% at a glance.

Pitch	Usage	Velo (mph)	Spin	H-Mvmt	V-Mvmt	Whiff%	CSW%
Four-Seam Fastball	27.0%	96.1	2,251	-5.3"	+9.2"	20.7%	30.3%
Splitter	26.3%	91.6	1,442	-7.3"	+1.3"	32.6%	22.5%
Cutter	15.1%	91.7	2,447	+1.0"	+4.7"	21.1%	26.7%
Curveball	13.2%	76.9	2,809	+6.7"	-9.5"	25.3%	37.7%
Sinker	12.3%	95.5	2,307	-8.9"	+6.8"	15.1%	29.6%
Slider	6.1%	86.9	2,741	+2.4"	+1.3"	32.7%	33.0%

H-Mvmt/V-Mvmt (inch): movement vs. a spinless ball. + = toward 3B / up, − = toward 1B / down. Whiff% = whiffs / swings, CSW% = (called strikes + whiffs) / pitches.

Handedness & Home/Away Splits

Situational splits for the current season. See strengths and weaknesses by scenario.

vs Handedness

Split	OAVG	OOPS	HR	K	BB
vs RHB	.197	.586	10	86	19
vs LHB	.169	.511	10	96	23

Home / Away

Split	OAVG	OOPS	HR	K	BB
Home	.190	.597	14	106	24
Away	.171	.480	6	76	18

Year-over-Year Performance Trend

Career-long performance trends for every key stat. How does this year compare to history?

Season	G	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	BB/9	K
2024	18	90.0	3.00	1.11	10.50	2.20	105
2025	30	173.2	2.49	0.99	10.42	3.06	201
2026Now	28	185.0	2.53	0.87	8.85	2.04	182

Full Game Log (Pitching)

All 28 regular season games of 2026. Showing latest 10; click to expand.

Underlined dates and › open the game page

Date	Opp	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ER/9
09/24	vs SD	6.0	5	2	1	4	3.00
09/16	@ CIN	7.0	1	0	2	7	0.00
09/10	vs CIN	7.0	3	1	1	10	1.29
09/03	vs STL	7.0	5	4	2	8	5.14
08/28	@ ATL	6.1	4	1	1	8	1.42
08/22	vs PIT	6.1	5	2	1	9	2.84
08/15	vs MIL	6.0	4	1	2	9	1.50
08/09	@ ARI	5.2	3	0	3	6	0.00
08/02	vs BOS	8.0	4	3	1	3	3.38
07/26	@ NYM	6.0	5	1	3	5	1.50

SHOW REMAINING 18 GAMES ▾

Date	Opp	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ER/9
07/20	@ NYY	9.0	4	2	0	7	2.00
07/12	vs ARI	6.0	5	6	4	6	9.00
07/05	vs SD	7.0	3	0	2	10	0.00
06/28	@ SD	6.0	5	2	2	4	3.00
06/21	vs BAL	6.0	6	3	2	6	4.50
06/14	@ CWS	8.1	1	1	0	7	1.08
06/07	vs LAA	8.0	2	1	0	4	1.13
06/01	vs PHI	5.1	4	0	2	10	0.00
05/25	@ MIL	7.0	7	1	1	3	1.29
05/19	@ SD	7.0	3	1	2	8	1.29
05/13	vs SF	6.1	6	5	0	8	7.11
05/05	@ HOU	6.0	5	3	1	8	4.50
04/28	vs MIA	5.0	5	3	4	4	5.40
04/22	@ SF	7.0	6	3	2	7	3.86
04/15	vs NYM	7.2	4	1	1	7	1.17
04/08	@ TOR	6.0	5	1	1	6	1.50
04/02	vs CLE	6.0	4	2	1	2	3.00
03/27	vs ARI	6.0	5	2	0	6	3.00

Year-over-Year (2026 vs 2025)

Green = improvement, red = decline. "—" means no data in the same month last year.

Pitching

	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep
ERA	+0.30	+2.46	-0.16	-1.99	+0.19	-1.61	+1.66
K	-8	-3	+5	-5	-4	+1	-5
WHIP	-0.27	+0.08	+0.18	-0.76	-0.12	-0.18	+0.07

AI · SEASON ANALYSIS

Yoshinobu Yamamoto 2026 Season AI Analysis

Comprehensive 2026 season analysis generated by Claude AI from stats data (as of Sep 28, 2026).

Overview

Yamamoto's 2026 age is elite by any measure: 2.53 ERA sits at the P90 threshold (2.53) exactly, WHIP of 0.87 is well below P90 (0.98), and K/9 of 8.85 sits between MLB average (8.94) and P50 (9.05) — roughly middle-of-the-pack on strikeout rate despite front-line results elsewhere. The gap between his run-prevention numbers and his strikeout rate is the defining feature of this season: he is getting elite outcomes without elite swing-and-miss volume, relying on command and contact management instead.

Strengths

The WHIP (0.87) is the standout number, comfortably clearing the P90 bar (0.98) and representing his best full-season mark to date. BB/9 of 2.04 is also strong, beating the P75 threshold (2.34) and improving on his walk control. Compared to 2024 (ERA 3.00 over 90 IP) and 2025 (ERA 2.49 over 173.2 IP), 2026 shows durability gains — 185 IP across 28 starts is his highest workload yet, with ERA holding at a career-best level even as innings climbed, suggesting better stamina management without performance erosion.

Areas to Improve

Strikeout rate is the one category trailing his own history: K/9 of 8.85 is down from 10.5 (2024) and 10.42 (2025), and now sits below the MLB P75 mark (10.26), let alone P90 (11.12). This 28-start, 182-K season leans more on weak contact and command than on missed bats compared to his rookie and sophomore years. If contact quality against him regresses, the lower strikeout rate offers less of a buffer than in prior seasons.

Looking Ahead

The profile suggests a pitcher trading some strikeout upside for efficiency and length, which has so far paid off in ERA and WHIP. The key question for the rest of the season is whether the K/9 decline is a deliberate approach shift (pitching to contact for deeper outings) or an early signal of diminished stuff. Given the WHIP and BB/9 are still elite, the underlying command looks stable; watching whether strikeout rate stabilizes or continues to slide will clarify whether this is a sustainable evolution or a trend worth monitoring.

AI-generated content (Claude) · Based on stats as of Sep 28, 2026

Detailed Analysis

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Season Analysis

Season Progress

ERA

↓ Lower is better

WHIP

↓ Lower is better

Strikeouts

Wins

Monthly Stats

ERA

vs MLB Monthly Avg↓ Lower is better

WHIP

vs MLB Monthly Avg↓ Lower is better

Strikeouts

Wins

Season Analysis

Loading season chart…

Splits vs LHP / RHP

Season stats vs right-handed and left-handed batters

vs RHP/RHB

.197OPS .586 / HR 10

vs LHP/LHB

.169OPS .511 / HR 10

Metrics Deep Dive

MLB-wide percentile rank, defensive and pitching metric summaries, pitch-type stats, and batted-ball distribution.

Pitching — MLB-wide Standing

WHIP and ERA rank in the top 9% of MLB. strikeouts also ranks in the top 40%, with no clear weak spot.

ERA2.53

WHIP0.87

strikeouts182

K/98.85

Bars show percentile rank among MLB-wide qualified players.

2026 Pitching Metrics Summary (FIP / WHIP / K/9)

FIP

3.33

MLB average ≈ 4.00 · lower is better

WHIP

0.87

MLB average ≈ 1.30 · lower is better

Strikeouts per 9 (K/9)

8.85

MLB average ≈ 8.5 · higher is better

Verify at the source:Baseball Savant FanGraphs

Source: MLB Stats API pitching stats (2026 season) · FIP calculated on-site (cFIP 3.10)

PITCHER · FIP

What is Yoshinobu Yamamoto's FIP? 3.33 in 2026

FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) measures a pitcher's true skill using only home runs, walks, hit-by-pitches and strikeouts — outcomes the pitcher controls. By stripping out defense and luck, it tracks real ability more closely than ERA.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 2026 FIP is 3.33, rated as "top-of-rotation". That's 0.67 below the MLB average of about 4.00 — better than league-average run prevention.

Compare with other Japanese pitchers in the FIP ranking

Pitch Type K% & BA Against

K% / BA-against / Whiff% by pitch type this season. K% is based on at-bats where each type was the strikeout pitch.

Pitch	Usage	K%	BAA	Whiff%
Four-Seam Fastball	27.0%	29.1%	.217	20.7%
Splitter	26.3%	28.3%	.234	32.6%
Cutter	15.1%	17.4%	.305	21.1%
Curveball	13.2%	23.4%	.321	25.3%
Sinker	12.3%	26.6%	.239	15.1%
Slider	6.1%	25.0%	.310	32.7%

K%: rate of strikeouts among plate appearances where this pitch type was the final pitch. Whiff%: whiffs per swing. Types with fewer than 10 pitches excluded.

Splits by Batter Handedness

BA / OPS against and WHIP vs right-handed and left-handed batters this season. Spot weaknesses by batter type.

Split	BAA	OPS	WHIP	K	IP
vs RHB	.197	.586	0.95	86	83.1
vs LHB	.169	.511	0.82	96	100.1

Game Log

2026 Season Appearance Log

28 starts · 182 total strikeouts

Season Best K

10K

Thu, Sep 10 vs CIN

Season Debut

Fri, Mar 27 vs ARI

6.0IP · 6K

Underlined dates and › open the game page

Date	Opp	IP	K	HR	BB	Dec
9/24	vsSD	6.0	4	1	1	L
9/16	@CIN	7.0	7	-	2	W
9/10	vsCIN	7.0	10	1	1	W
9/3	vsSTL	7.0	8	2	2	-
8/28	@ATL	6.1	8	1	1	L
8/22	vsPIT	6.1	9	-	1	-
8/15	vsMIL	6.0	9	-	2	W
8/9	@ARI	5.2	6	-	3	-
8/2	vsBOS	8.0	3	2	1	L
7/26	@NYM	6.0	5	-	3	W
7/20	@NYY	9.0	7	1	0	W
7/12	vsARI	6.0	6	1	4	L
7/5	vsSD	7.0	10	-	2	W
6/28	@SD	6.0	4	1	2	W
6/21	vsBAL	6.0	6	-	2	L
6/14	@CWS	8.1	7	1	0	W
6/7	vsLAA	8.0	4	-	0	W
6/1	vsPHI	5.1	10	-	2	W
5/25	@MIL	7.0	3	-	1	W
5/19	@SD	7.0	8	1	2	L
5/13	vsSF	6.1	8	3	0	L
5/5	@HOU	6.0	8	1	1	W
4/28	vsMIA	5.0	4	1	4	-
4/22	@SF	7.0	7	-	2	L
4/15	vsNYM	7.2	7	1	1	-
4/8	@TOR	6.0	6	-	1	W
4/2	vsCLE	6.0	2	1	1	L
3/27	vsARI	6.0	6	1	0	W