Yoshinobu Yamamoto stays in line to pitch opening day for the Dodgers in Tokyo

For a manager, the task of choosing a starting pitcher for opening day can be fraught with challenges, especially if the team’s staff is as deep as the one the Dodgers have.

But for Dave Roberts, the decision this spring was a no-brainer. With the Dodgers opening their season with two games in Tokyo, there was never really a doubt Japan’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto would pitch the first game and rookie Roki Sasaki the second.

“Truth be told, it’s his country,” Roberts said of Yamamoto. “I think it’s bigger than the Dodgers. It’s about baseball, and it makes the most sense for him to start the first game of the season in Tokyo.

“We’re all baseball fans here. How many opportunities would you get to pitch for a major league team going back there? This is probably a one-time shot for these guys. So, yeah, this is great.”

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Yamamoto, speaking through an interpreter, said he appreciated his manager’s show of respect.

“I’m very much looking forward to it. It’s been a while since the last time I pitched there,” said Yamamoto, who last played in the Japanese league in 2023.

The Dodgers opened last season in Asia as well, splitting two games with the Padres in South Korea. Yamamoto made his big-league debut in the second game, but lasted just an inning, yielding five runs. Roberts doesn’t think the moment will be too big for the right-hander this time.

“These Japanese superstars, they’re built differently,” he said. “Pitching in huge games since they were young, pitching in the WBC, understanding expectations, they’re just really tough guys and very resilient.”

Yamamoto, 26, the only player who has won an Olympic gold medal, World Baseball Classic title and a World Series ring, proved his resilience last season, overcoming that poor debut and a triceps tightness that sidelined him for nearly two months to win nine of his final 10 decisions, the last coming in Game 2 of the World Series when he held the Yankees to one hit in 6 1/3 innings.

“Coming back after that start and pitching the way he did, pitching throughout the postseason the way he did… it was good to see how he responded from last year and grown this year,” Roberts said.

Yamamoto said his rookie season was a learning experience.

“Last year was my first year and a few unexpected things happened,” he said. “This year I know what to expect.”

Under normal circumstances, left-hander Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young award winner, probably would have been given the honor of the opening day start. But he said he was happy to step aside for Yamamoto and Sasaki; he’s expected to start the Dodgers’ home opener against the Detroit Tigers on March 27 instead.

“I’m excited for them,” he said. “They get to play in front of the people. That’s where they’re from and they get to show their talent. It’s such a great feeling.

“They get to do that and represent.”

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Yamamoto made his fourth and final Cactus League appearance Monday, throwing 75 pitches over five innings, giving up a run on four hits and striking out seven in a 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks. Sasaki is scheduled to start the Dodgers’ Arizona finale against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday. The team will leave for Japan early Wednesday.

If the top of the rotation is set, with Tyler Glasnow expected to follow Snell as the fourth starter, the final spot remains unsettled. At least publicly.

The leading candidates are Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May, both of whom missed the 2024 season with injuries. And while Roberts admitted Monday he’s already picked a winner, he said he wouldn’t announce that until he had a chance to speak with both players.

Whoever gets that slot will continue preparing for the season in Phoenix rather than traveling to Tokyo, where the Dodgers will play two exhibitions against Japanese teams in addition to the two regular-season games with the Cubs.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.