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Dodgers Major Free Agent and Major Trade Acquisition Combine to Make Rare Team History

Game 5 of the NLDS and Game 1 of the NLCS saw great pitching performances from both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty.

Brady Farkas

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) pitches against the San Diego Padres in the second inning during game five of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium on Oct 11.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) pitches against the San Diego Padres in the second inning during game five of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium on Oct 11. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets 9-0 on Sunday night to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

With the win, the Dodgers are one win closer to their first World Series appearance since 2020.

In that win, the Dodgers got a stellar pitching performance from starter Jack Flaherty, who went 7.0 scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits and struck out six. This was the Dodgers third consecutive shutout and follows a great start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who went 5.0 scoreless innings in the NLDS against the Padres in Game 5.

Those two have combined to make Dodgers history not seen in the last six years, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Flaherty, a trade deadline acquisition from the Detroit Tigers, is now 1-1 in these playoffs with a 2.92 ERA. In the regular season, he went 12-7 between the two organizations while posting a 3.17 ERA. A free agent at the end of the season, he's positioned himself for a nice payday as one of the top starters on the market. At 28 years old, he's also still young enough to cash in on a solid multi-year deal.

As for Yamamoto, he was the biggest free agent acquisition last offseason for the Dodgers (not named Shohei Ohtani). He missed significant time with injury, making just 18 starts. He went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA, striking out 105 batters in 90.0 innings.

The Dodgers and Mets will meet again in Game 2 on Monday afternoon at 4:08 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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