Dodgers GM Confident Yoshinobu Yamamoto Will Return 'Before The End of The Year'

Yamamoto is out with a strained rotator cuff.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers believe starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto will return before the end of this season. Yamamoto is currently on the 60-day injured list as he recovers from a strained rotator cuff, and has not played since June 15.

“The way he’s progressing and how he’s feeling and going through the process right now, we feel really good he’ll be back before the end of the year,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto practices prior to the Dodgers’s games vs SF tonight.#LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/CenZ3CO8Bh

— Gene Wang (@gene1174) July 24, 2024

This matches what other members of the Dodgers have said, including Yamamoto himself, as he stated his goal was to return by the end of the year. Yamamoto has begun his throwing program and has been playing catch. He is also no longer feeling pain in his shoulder.

The Dodgers play their last regular season game against the Colorado Rockies on Sep. 29, and Yamamoto could return within that last month of play.

When he was healthy this season, Yamamoto started 14 games, going 6-2 with a 2.92 ERA and 84 strikeouts. In 15 innings pitched in June before he left with his injury, Yamamoto was posting a 0.60 ERA.

While the Dodgers will be without Yamamoto for the foreseeable future, they welcomed back two of their top starters this week in Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw. Glasnow returned from a back injury Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants. Kershaw returned Thursday — his first major league start this season after undergoing surgery last November to repair the glenohumeral ligaments in his shoulder.

In the meantime, expect the Dodgers to acquire a starting pitcher to supplement a rotation that currently consists of Glasnow, Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Landon Knack and River Ryan between now and Tuesday's trade deadline. Yamamoto will join the group at some point after that.