Game 5 starter? Tipping pitches?

From Dodgers Nation:

The Los Angeles Dodgers have forced a Game 5 in the National League Division Series against their division rivals, the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers will host Game 5 at Dodger Stadium, and their $325 million man Yoshinobu Yamamoto was expected to take the mound to try to send L.A. to the NLCS.

On Wednesday night, after the Dodgers’ 8-0 win over the Padres, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked about his Game 5 starter.

He didn’t announce one.

“We’ve got some options,” Roberts said.

The obvious option is Yamamoto. Another would be Jack Flaherty. The Dodgers could also deploy another bullpen game, as they did in Game 4. For now, though, Roberts said he doesn’t have a starter.

In Game 1 of the series on Saturday, Yamamoto allowed five runs, five hits, one home run, and two walks with only one strikeout across three innings.

Although the Dodgers still picked up the win when he started, the 26-year-old didn’t look like the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history. He’ll almost certainly factor into the team’s Game 5. It’s just a matter of when he gets into the game.

After Yamamoto’s outing on Saturday, Roberts believed that he might’ve tipped his pitches.

“There are some things that I think we’re going to dig into, because I think at second base they had some things with his glove [that were] giving away some pitches,” Roberts said. “We’re going to clean that up. That’s part of baseball. So it’s on us to kind of clean that up and not give away what pitch he’s going to throw.”

The Japanese sensation didn’t share the same sentiment. Instead, he believes that falling behind in counts and allowing baserunners hurt him.

“I’m going to review what went wrong and what was good, and then I’m going to make it workable into the next outing,” Yamamoto said.

The Dodgers will undoubtedly need to bring their A-game if they want a date with the New York Mets in the Championship Series. It is do-or-die for the Dodgers.

Yamamoto should pitch at some point in Game 5. But Roberts is yet to announce who his official “starter” will be.