The Los Angeles Dodgers have the most star-studded roster in Major League Baseball, but that doesn’t stop their MVPs from complimenting each other.
Mookie Betts handed World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto a huge compliment.
“As much as he pitched last year, right? Then pitched what he did in the postseason and then to now come around and do what he’s doing now.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody stay healthy and be as good for this long,” he said on his podcast On Base with Mookie Betts.
Yamamoto is set make his second consecutive All-Star appearance next week after sporting a 2.49 ERA with 100 strikeouts across 104.2 innings pitched (16 starts) this season. He was three outs away from a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox before giving up a home run to Tristan Peters last month.
This comes after a 2025 campaign where posted a 2.49 regular season ERA with 201 strikeouts across 173.2 innings of work.
The Dodgers likely couldn’t have become back-to-back World Champions without Yamamoto’s postseason heroics. The right-hander went 5-1 with a 1.45 ERA last October, a performance that earned him World Series MVP.
Yamamoto cemented himself into Dodgers lore when he entered Game 7 on zero days’ rest to fend off a Toronto Blue Jays lineup for the final two-plus innings of the game. Through all of that, Yamamoto avoided any major injuries last season as well as in 2026 thus far.
Betts credited Yamamoto’s availability to his intense training, which the Dodgers shortstop implemented into his own routine this spring.
Yamamoto’s trainer, Yada Sensei, worked with Betts on a javelin-throwing routine to improve his shoulder strength and throwing motion.
Betts’ unprecedented transition to shortstop is often undermined, but he’s emerged as one of the best at his position after winning six Gold Glove awards as a right fielder.
The Dodgers hold the best record in the National League at 60-32 and superstars like Yamamoto and Betts have been huge factors in creating a winning culture in LA. The back-to-back champions are looking to complete the three-peat this season and could very well get even better at this summer’s trade deadline.
