"Straight Talk" is a regular feature where The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers' Japanese superstars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. The job of translators in the heat of the moment is difficult without the ability to write down questions and answers and re-hear responses for proper context. That's where John comes in to help.
John currently works as a Japanese-English interpreter and has covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years. His experience includes stints at The Orange County Register, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Redlands Daily Facts, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s English newspaper in Tokyo and The Epoch Times.
Dodgers ace Yoshimoto Yamamoto spoke with the media after returning to the Dodgers following his stint with the Samurai Japan squad at the World Baseball Classic. Here's a full transcription of his questions and answers.
Q: Have you set a new goal for 2026 that you hope to achieve?
Yamamoto: This is a new season we’re heading into now, and of course we finished last year with the best result possible, but this is a new year, and I very much want us to come together as a team again and go into it with the world championship as the goal.
Q: How do you feel physically, and how do you feel about how you pitched in the WBC?
Yamamoto: As a team, we had a finish that was really tough to take, but that aside, I feel I’m coming along the way I need to right now. So, I really feel like it’s so far, so good and I hope to get one more start in and raise my level up as much as I can before Opening Day.
Q: What would it mean for you to tin win the Cy Young award and how well-positioned do you feel like you are to possibly do that this season?
Yamamoto: It’s an honor that is awarded to the No. 1 pitcher, so I’d like to try my best to get it. But there are a lot of great pitchers out there, so I’ll just focus going out and trying to put on the best performance I can in each game I throw.
Q: Now that you’ve had some time to digest the World Series, just when you think back to that last pitch, what types of images come up?
Yamamoto: It was a special experience I was able to have, and I gained an appreciation for just how difficult it is to win one game. I felt that happiness again, and I want to be able to know that same kind of happiness with everyone in here again and thought about how I want do my best as a member of the team.
Q: How much did you miss Hiro during the WBC?
Yamamoto: I missed him a lot. And it was good that Hiro was here apparently working on various things.