Dodgers Change Starting Pitching Plan for Game 1 of NLDS vs. Padres

Jack Flaherty no longer will take the mound in Game 1.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is in his ninth season as the skipper in Los Angeles. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers have tweaked their pitching plan for their upcoming NLDS series against the rival San Diego Padres.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters Thursday that Jack Flaherty will no longer take the ball in Game 1. Instead, the Dodgers will send rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the bump on Saturday in order to have the 26-year-old available to pitch in a possible win-or-go-home Game 5.

Jack Flaherty, who the Dodgers acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, will get the start in Game 2.

Andrew Friedman said the Dodgers are flipping Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the rotation

Yamamoto now going Game 1. Flaherty will go Game 2

Friedman said it’s so Yamamoto can be available for Game 5 on an extra day of rest (as he’s gotten for every outing this year)

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) October 3, 2024

In 18 starts this season, Yamamoto logged a 3.00 ERA with 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He landed on the injured list in mid-June with a rotator cuff strain and missed over two months until making his return Sept. 10.

Yamamoto made four starts after returning from injury last month, and he allowed six earned runs on 16 hits in 16 innings (3.38 ERA).

Flaherty pitched 55 1/3 innings for the Dodgers after the trade deadline and logged a 3.58 ERA and four quality starts in 10 outings.

Game 1 between the Dodgers and Padres is scheduled for 8:38 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Dodgers will host the Padres again in Game 2 on Sunday before the series shifts to Petco Park for Game 3 and, if necessary, Game 4.

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