The Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday switched their first two starters for the National League Division Series, deciding to start Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 1 on Saturday against the San Diego Padres and going with fellow right-hander Jack Flaherty in Game 2 on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers said Flaherty would start Game 1 and Yamamoto would follow in the best-of-five series.
Los Angeles President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said the decision to flip the starters wasn't performance-based. He said pitching the opener would make Yamamoto available for Game 5, if necessary.
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