In Game 3 of the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers came just one Freddie Freeman walkoff home run away from sending Game 2 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto out to pitch the 19th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays.
To anyone who didn’t watch the six-hour tour de force, that might sound like a downright ridiculous idea. But then again, watching two teams essentially play two games back-to-back late into the night is pretty inherently extraordinary. So, why not send Yamamoto out on two days’ rest, especially when he wouldn’t have to pitch again until Friday—if the series lasted that long?
That said, what would have happened if Yamamoto had taken care of business at the top of the 19th inning, but the Dodgers couldn’t score in the bottom half? Would he have gone out for the 20th inning? Or would the Dodgers have been forced to turn to another option, given how exhausted their bullpen arms were?
“If Yamamoto couldn’t have taken the ball in the 19th, it would’ve been Miguel Rojas,” Yamamoto revealed.
Interestingly, the Dodgers are one of only three teams in history to have played into the 18th inning of a World Series game. Yet, no team has ever sent a position player out to pitch the 19th or 20th inning of a World Series game.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, they didn’t have to face that unprecedented scenario. Thanks to Freeman’s clutch walkoff homer, Rojas was spared from potentially making history—for all the wrong reasons.
https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-dave-roberts-drops-post-yoshinobu-yamamoto-world-series-pitching-plan