Yoshinobu Yamamoto Inspires Teenage Pitching Star Shoki Oda's MLB Ambitions

Yoshinobu Yamamoto continues to exert a major influence on Japanese baseball talent, as 18-year-old phenom Shoki Oda eyes a direct jump to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Oda, who considers Yamamoto his favorite player, is expected to forgo Nippon Professional Baseball to sign with an MLB organization as an amateur. Yamamoto's success alongside Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki has driven the Dodgers' surge in popularity across Japan.