Jordan Yamamoto: Mets Hawaiian Born Pitcher (2021)

Jordan Yamamoto was born May 11th 1996, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 

His mother is a V.P. at a credit union & his father a diesel mechanic. His family comes from a heritage of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino & Portuguese. 

He pitched at St. Louis High School in Honolulu, a team mate of Chicago White Sox pitcher, Kodi Medeiros. He was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 12th round of the 2014 MLB draft.

On January of 2018, after four seasons at the Rookie & A ball levels of the Brewers minors, he was traded to the Miami Marlins (along with Lewis Brinson, Isan Diaz & Monte Harrison) in the Christian Yelich deal.

Yamamoto debuted on June 12th, 2019 pitching
seven shut out innings, allowing just three hits, in a 9-0 win over the Cardinals. 

He next faced the Cards in St. Louis & shut them out again, for seven innings allowing just two hits. He struck out 12 batters combined, in those two starts. He also set a Marlins franchise record, starting out his career with 14 scoreless innings.

Thru mid July, in his first six starts he was 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA with 34 Ks in 34 innings of work. But after that, things went bad. Yamamoto lost four straight decisions, allowing four earned runs or more in five straight starts. 

He was sent down to AAA returning for two appearances in late September. He ended the year 4-5 with a 4.46 ERA in 15 appearances, 82 strike outs & 36 walks in 78.2 innings of work.

In the 2020 Covid19 shortened season, he made just three starts allowing three earned runs or more each time. 

On September 4th, in a relief appearance facing the Atlanta Braves, he was shelled for 13 runs, including four HRs  in a 29-9 Marlins loss. He was designated for assignment in January of 2021.

On February 1st, he was traded to the New York Mets for Federico Polanco.

Trivia: Jordan joins former Mets, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez & Benny Agbayani as Mets players born in Hawaii.

Mets Career: On May 5th, in St. Louis, he made his Mets debut, coming in the 2nd inning, in relief of Miguel Castro in a rare start, to help a depleted injured staff. Yamamoto pitched 2.2 innings, allowing a run on four hits, striking out one, in the Mets 7-2 win over the Cardinals, earning the victory. 

On May 23rd in Miami, he made his first start, he allowed five runs (two earned) gaining his first loss, in a 5-1 loss to the Marlins. He left the game with right shoulder soreness. 

After the game, some fans attacked his performance on his wife's social media page. She answered back saying: she's a wife, rooting for her husband. Jordan also commented by calling out to those fans "It's my fault, don't go & harass her". Many fans stuck up for his wife as well.

Two days later he was placed on the 60 day Injured list, becoming another casualty of the 2021 injured staff.

Personal: Yamamoto is loaded with tattoos that he says "honors his parents, two sisters & his
homeland".

He also took up cutting hair as a hobby & has offered his teammates free haircuts in the past.

Family: He married his wife, the former Madison Ahearn, in December of 2020.