Fastball

Los Angeles Dodgers' Pitcher Goes Viral in Wholesome Moment with Young Fan

Yoshinobu Yamamoto appeared to be taken aback by a nice note he got from a young Dodgers fan on Tuesday.
Brady Farkas|
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) on the mound against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on June 1.
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) on the mound against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on June 1. | Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is going viral after a wholesome interaction with a student who wrote him a note. It appears that this happened on Tuesday prior to the Dodgers playing the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium.

The young student went up to Yamamoto and handed him the note, which Yamamoto read as the student walked away. Yamamoto couldn't stop smiling and called someone over to read the note as well.

Yamamoto admitted that sometimes he feels lonely because most of his friends are in Japan, so it's likely that the note made him feel a nice connection.

The 26-year-old Japanese sensation was signed to a 12-year, $325 million deal last offseason and helped the Dodgers win the World Series against the New York Yankees. This year, he's looking like an All-Star and a Cy Young candidate, sitting at 6-4 with a 2.39 ERA through 12 starts.

He battled injury in 2024, making just 18 starts, but he still went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 90.0 regular season innings. He was also 2-0 in the playoffs with a 3.86 ERA.

His splitter is one of the more devastating pitches in the sport, and it's paired with an upper-90s fastball. The Dodgers will back in action on Wednesday night against the Mets with first pitch coming at 10:10 p.m. ET.

Right-hander Griffin Canning will start for New York while Tony Gonsolin goes for LA. Canning is 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA while Gonsolin is 3-1 with a 5.23.

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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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