Straight Talk: Yamamoto meets media after victory on Opening Day
"It’s great to win the opener, that’s fine, but at the same time, the season is long and we need to be connected as a team and push ahead."
Mar 26, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) reacts in the dugout after the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. "Straight Talk" is a regular feature in which The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers' Japanese superstars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
The job of interpreters in the heat of the moment is difficult without the ability to write down questions and answers and re-hear responses for proper context. That's where John comes in to help. John currently works as a Japanese-English interpreter and covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years.
His experience includes stints at The Orange County Register, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Redlands Daily Facts, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s English newspaper in Tokyo and The Epoch Times. LOS ANGELES -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0) spoke with media members after tossing six strong innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday as the Dodgers won 8-2 on Opening Day behind his five-hit, six-strikeout performance. Q: It seems like they were pretty quick to hunt the fastball, how much of an adjustment did you make early on in the start, and what do you think allowed you to finish so strong?
Yamamoto: As far as my stuff, I felt like I was able to hit my spots, for the most part and I was going hard from the first inning. I gave up the home run to open the scoring, but I was able to reset and go after the next batter, and I think my pitches got better after that. Q: Could you tell if they were super aggressive on the fastball early on?