MLB Playoffs: Dodgers Swap NLDS Game 1 and Game 2 Starters at Last Minute

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres had their starting pitching assignments for Games 1 and 2 of their epic National League Division Series showdown set early Thursday.

Until they didn’t.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman announced in a press conference Thursday afternoon that he was swapping his previously announced starting pitchers for Games 1 and 2.

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 1 opposite San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease in Game 1 on Saturday. Right-hander Jack Flaherty will start Game 2 opposite San Diego Padres right-hander Yu Darvish.

The Game 3 assignments have yet to be determined.

Why the change?

Friedman explained that by using Yamamoto in Game 1 instead of Game 2, it leaves open the possibility that the rookie from Japan could pitch at some point in the if-necessary Game 5 on Oct. 11.

“Yoshi hasn’t pitched on regular (rest). Jack’s more accustomed to it,” Friedman said. “Depending on pen usage throughout (the series) it allows us that flexibility in Game 5 if there is one. It just allows us more options.”

Flaherty, whom the Dodgers acquired from the Detroit Tigers ahead of the July 30 trade deadline, is 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 28 starts this season — 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA since the trade.

Yamamoto, whom the Dodgers signed to a 12-year, $325 million free agent contract last December, is 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts this year. He missed significant time with a midseason shoulder injury, then returned Sept. 10 and allowed six earned runs in 16 innings (3.38 ERA) across his final four starts.

Flaherty has faced the Padres six times in his career, including once this season, on Sept. 25. He allowed three runs in five innings in the Dodgers’ 4-3 win. Yamamoto has only faced San Diego twice, and not since April 12.

More news: MLB Playoffs: Padres-Dodgers Series Could Hinge on One Key Injury

The Padres’ relative lack of familiarity with Yamamoto did not factor into the decision to swap their starts, Friedman said.

“Whether it has an effect, I don’t know, but it did not (factor) into the decision,” he said.

The Dodgers are paying Yamamoto like a number-1 starter; his total contract value topped New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole’s all-time record for a pitcher.

Now, they’re giving him the ball in Game 1 of their most important series of the season.

During his first season in San Diego, Cease posted a 3.47 ERA with a 14-11 record in 33 starts. Darvish is 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 16 starts this year.

For more MLB postseason news, visit Newsweek Sports.