Yoshinobu Yamamoto has bigger things to worry about today than who he’s dating.
The 27-year-old Japanese ace needs to replicate his Game 2 masterpiece in Game 6 if the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to force a do-or-die Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series.
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Unlike his good buddy and glocal icon teammate Shohei Ohtani, who always has his wife Mamiko Tanaka loyally by his side, the 2025 All-Star will probably not have a Dodgers WAG in the crowd. And if he did, it seems pretty clear now that her name would not be Niki Niwa.
Here’s why.
One Beverly Hills encounter has been the only source of their alleged relationship
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Yamamoto and Niwa, 29, a Japanese fashion influencer and the “Terrace House” reality star, were spotted together by a paparazzi photographer in Beverly Hills in November 2024.
That’s the only time they’ve ever been seen together, and now Yamamoto has the biggest test of his professional career trying to help the Dodgers win back-to-back World Series in what will be a rowdy environment at the Rogers Centre.
Niwa has been posting from all over Asia
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Niwa, being a jet-setting model as well, has been posting on Instagram from all over Asia, including a fun girls trip in Hong Kong recently during the MLB playoffs.
She also had many posts on her Instagram Stories celebrating her 29th birthday with friends, and Yamamoto is not only a continent away, but there were no well wishes from him. And given the always entertaining Yamamoto is active on social media, it seems like he’d shoot her a quick note if they were, in fact, a couple.
Beloved bachelor in Los Angeles
Much like Ohtani, Yamamoto is beloved in Los Angeles, and with their fellow countryman Roki Sasaki, the trio are always by each other’s sides and are arguably the biggest celebrities in a town full of A-list movie stars.
So don’t feel bad for Yamamoto, no matter what happens tonight, because not only is he making $325 million, fully guaranteed, including a $50 million signing bonus, he is literally one of the most eligible bachelors across two continents.
And if he pitches another gem tonight to force a single game to decide it all, his stock will skyrocket even more.
And given how much Ohtani and his wife seem to be in love, maybe Mamiko can set him up with one of her friends!
