Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tue, Oct 13, 2026

Yamamoto knocked out after 2.2 innings as splitter command deserts him in the NLCS

Yamamoto worked just 2.2 innings in the NLCS opener at Milwaukee, allowing four hits and three earned runs with one strikeout and two walks. That is a sharp departure from his regular-season profile of a 2.53 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP, and from his division series start in Atlanta, where he threw seven innings of one-run ball with ten strikeouts. Three baserunners per inning is the number that explains the early exit, and it points to command rather than stuff.

The pitch mix tells the story. He threw 30 four-seam fastballs, 40 percent of his 75 pitches, at an average of 96.4 mph. Velocity was fine, but the pitch earned a 63 percent strike rate and not a single swing and miss. The splitter, normally the putaway weapon, was thrown 16 times with only a 44 percent strike rate and two whiffs. When both the primary pitch and the finisher miss the zone, counts get long, walks follow, and the pitcher is forced to throw hittable strikes. The cutter was the one pitch that held up, with a 71 percent strike rate on 14 throws, and the slider went three for three in strikes with one whiff, though the sample is tiny. The curveball at 76.2 mph produced a 50 percent strike rate and no swing and miss.

The platoon splits offer no easy explanation either. This season Yamamoto held right-handed hitters to a .197 average and a .586 OPS, and left-handed hitters to a .169 average and a .511 OPS. With no meaningful gap, this outing looks like an execution problem on the splitter and fastball rather than a matchup problem. His recent form supports that view: from September onward he had gone at least six innings in every start, and this appearance is a clear outlier against that run. One short start should not change how we evaluate him, though in October the cost of an early exit is larger than in the regular season.

Unico's takeaway: whether he can restore the splitter's strike rate is the key thing to watch in his next start.