Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck gold with Team Japan at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). Since then, he has added two titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers and a World Series MVP last year, further solidifying his status as Samurai Japan’s ace for the upcoming edition of the showcase international spectacle.

Yamamoto is determined to play at his best in the tournament. The starter shared a series of pictures on his Instagram account on Sunday recapping his short Spring Training stint with the Dodgers in Florida before he joined the Japanese team for the WBC.

“Spring Training is over. Now I’m joining Team Japan. I’ll give it everything I have,” the caption read.

The 27-year-old appeared in two preseason games for the Dodgers. He made his debut on Feb. 21 against the Los Angeles Angels, throwing 1.2 innings on 30 pitches with 1 earned run on 3 hits and 3 strikeouts. His latest start came against the San Francisco Giants on Feb. 27, where he earned a home run off Willy Adames and finished with 3.0 innings of work on 52 pitches with 2 earned runs and 4 strikeouts.

Yamamoto pitched twice for Team Japan during their 2023 campaign. He started in the pool fixture against Team Australia, earning the win after pitching 4.0 scoreless innings. His second appearance came in relief in the semifinal against Team Mexico, where he earned 2 runs on 3.1 innings.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto ready for opener against Taiwan

Taiwan has grown into a mini baseball powerhouse in East Asia. They will certainly pose a challenge for the mighty Japanese. As their ace, it is expected that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound.

“I’m looking forward to that game against Taiwan,’’ he told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale last week. “I understand the passion of Taiwanese fans and baseball fans. So I think it’s special.’’

Yamamoto reportedly broke into laughter after claiming to keep his pitch count for the game a “secret.”

In the WBC, pitchers are limited to specific pitch counts. For preliminary round fixtures, they can deliver only 65 pitches and any player who has recorded 50 pitches in the tournament will not be allowed to step back on the mound in the following four days. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts charted a probable plan for Yamamoto’s workload at the tournament.

“You would hope that we can get him up to four and 60 (in his first WBC start) and then five and 75, so I think that if we still build the progression that would be great,” Roberts said.

Besides Chinese Taipei, Japan will also face South Korea, Australia and Czechia at the Tokyo Dome in Pool C of the competition.