Los Angeles Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a fantastic outing in his start against the Los Angeles Angels, and retired the final 22 batters he faced.

His effort marked the third time in his career he had retired 20 or more batters to end an outing, making him just the second pitcher to do so that many times in the last 50 years. The other is four-time Cy Young winner and Hall of Famer Greg Maddux.

While Yamamoto is still a ways away from making the Hall of Fame, it’s hard to discredit his dominance during his young MLB career. He has already won two World Series through two MLB seasons, earning a World Series MVP during that time, and is only missing personal accolades in his trophy cabinet.

He has a career 2.67 ERA through 60 starts with the Dodgers, and is off to quite the start in 2026 despite a rocky period towards the end of April and beginning of May. Yamamoto has a 2.68 ERA on the year, and has struck out 73 batters through 77.1 innings pitched so far.

The right-hander has allowed just two earned runs over his last three starts, which span 20.1 innings pitched.

Who Was Greg Maddux?

Widely considered one of the best pitchers of the 1990s, Maddux spent most of his 23-year playing career with the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs, though also had stops with the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres.