"Straight Talk" is a regular feature in which The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. He will also help translate when Lakers star Rui Hachimura and LA Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida are asked questions in Japanese.
The job of interpreters 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 covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years. His experience as a sports reporter 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.
SAN DIEGO – Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-4) surrenders a solo blast in the opening inning on Monday night and nothing else over the next six innings, but is saddled with a tough loss as the Los Angeles Dodgers fall 1-0 to the host San Diego Padres. Yamamoto holds the Pads to a run on four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts, but the Dodgers fail to generate any offense in support of his effort.
Q: Yoshi, you were excellent in this one, it really was only that mistake in the first inning with the home run. What were you seeing in that at-bat that you think just allowed him to get that swing on you?
Yamamoto: Well, in the first inning, for the most part, I was a little too amped up. After that, I noticed something in my pitching form I needed to correct, and I was able to do that from the second inning on and pitched well. But that was an unfortunate mistake pitch.
Q: is that one of those things where you point to, just some of those first-inning struggles and the challenges of getting going early in the game?
Yamamoto: Well, in terms of today’s game, the game was decided on that one run. So, while I think it’s getting better, it’s still an issue.
Q: What can you do to try to settle into a game faster? You mentioned you had been working on it.
Yamamoto: The things I need to do are clear for me personally, and I think I can rectify it going forward.
Q: On the home run, did you want the splitter to be further down or inside, or is that where you wanted that splitter?
Yamamoto: Yes, of course. I was aiming to throw it on the low side.