Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw the second no-hitter of his career Saturday for the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Orix Buffaloes, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman — one of the many teams and executives expected to pursue the Japanese star — had a front-row seat.
Cashman was in attendance as the Yakyu Cosmopolitan account on X, which covers Japanese baseball, posted a screenshot of Cashman in attendance and clapping as Yamamoto acknowledged the crowd.
Special assistant Omar Minaya was also there Cashman.
Yamamoto, who The Post’s Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman previously reported is expected to get posted this winter, improved his record to 14-5 in 2023 by striking out eight, walking one, hitting a batter and not allowing any Lotte Marines to reach base via a hit.
He threw 102 pitches, and his ERA kept dropping after the outing, reflecting the type of pitcher that Cashman and the Yankees could certainly use to boost their struggling — and underperforming — rotation that enters 2024 with plenty of questions behind ace Gerrit Cole.
“I was nervous right up until the last batter, so now I’m relieved,” Yamamoto said postgame, according to The Mainichi.
Yamamoto’s no-hitter marked the 100th in the league’s history, and it allowed him to achieve the prestigious pitching achievement in consecutive seasons — with the 25-year-old’s other no-hitter occurring in June 2022 against the Seibu Lions.
Yamamoto got the final out Saturday by forcing a groundout to the Buffaloes’ second baseman, and his Orix teammates sprinted out of the dugout and soaked him with water as the celebration began.
“From the time I stepped on the mound in the ninth inning, there was a lot of cheering, so it felt good pitching,” Yamamoto said.
In a start near the end of August, Yamamoto had at least 10 MLB teams in attendance to watch his start, including the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Rangers, Phillies and Tigers, according to Heyman.
Yamamoto also went 1-0 across two appearances with Japan en route to their World Baseball Classic title in February, allowing two runs on four hits across 7 ⅓ innings while striking out 12 batters.
He threw 3 ⅓ innings of relief in Japan’s semifinal victory against Mexico.
Then, Yamamoto continued his success with the NPB.
Mets starter Kodai Senga called him an “amazing player” during an August interview, adding that Yamamoto has pitched “at the top level since he was very young.”
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