Tomorrow morning marks the start of the 2025 MLB season as the Cubs and Dodgers get set to kick things off in Tokyo Japan. The two-game series will highlight some of the game’s best international talent in front of a worldwide audience. Both the Cubs and Dodgers feature several Japanese-born players, and both teams look to contend in the postseason this upcoming year.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Cubs won the season series against the Dodgers four games to two in ’24.
The Dodges enter this game as early 1.5-run favorites. Not surprisingly given they won 98 games last season (compared to the Cubs’ 83) and won the World Series. They also supplemented that winning by adding even more talent this offseason.
A premiere pitching matchup
Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga will be given the ball in game one and will throw the first pitch of the 2025 season.
Last year Imanaga went 1-0 against the Dodgers in two appearances. In his 11 innings of work against the eventual world champs, Imanaga allowed just three runs, struck out seven, and walked zero. His 2.45 ERA against the Dodgers was excellent, albeit in a small sample size. He will hope to continue his dominance against a potent Dodgers lineup tomorrow morning in Tokyo.
The Dodgers will also feature a former NPB Star to begin his sophomore season. Last year Yohinobu Yamamoto was good. In his rookie season in MLB, he pitched to a 3.00 ERA and struck out 105 batters in 90 innings.
His season was interrupted by a midseason injury, but unlike Shota, his season extended into the postseason. In the playoffs, he shined with a 2-0 record, 3.86 ERA and 0.96 WHIP.
Coming into year two, he is projected to be one of the best pitchers in baseball on a stacked Dodgers rotation.
New faces for both teams
After another disappointing post-2016 season, the Cubs made major improvements this offseason. The big one was adding superstar Kyle Tucker, but they also added his former Astro teammate Ryan Pressley to shore up the bullpen. Both will be leaned on in this one to help take down the Dodgers.
Unlike the Cubs, the Dodgers didn’t need to add to a desperate team in need of course correction. But they did anyway. The Dodgers added Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and Michael Conforto. Scott and Yates will likely see action out of the Dodgers bullpen in this game.
In terms of injuries, both clubs will be without one of their starting infielders. For the Cubs, starting second baseman Nico Hoerner didn’t make the trip to Japan as he continued his rehab for his offseason arm surgery back home. Some combination of Jon Berti, Justin Tuner, or Gage Workman will fill the void in his absence.
For the Dodgers, superstar Mookie Betts will be unavailable to play despite making the flight to Japan. Betts has been dealing with a sickness that has held him out of both Dodger exhibition games, as well as the last week of spring training. Ten-year veteran Miguel Rojas will get the nod at short in his absence.
Keys to the game
The Cub’s key in this game is to swing for the fences on Yamamoto. They need to have the mindset to do as much damage as they can with the bats. Yamamoto is not a pitcher who gives out many freebies (6% BB rate) but he does get hit hard. His 8.3% barrel rate and 41.3% hard-hit rate last season show that he does have a vulnerability.
It’s easy to say that all the Dodgers need to do to take Game 1 is play their game. But the Cubs are no doormat. A big key for the Dodgers will be to get Shota Imanaga out of the game as quickly as possible to face the Cub’s questionable bullpen. Imanaga tended to go far in games in ‘24. And when he was rolling he was nearly unhittable. Look for the Dodgers to try to do damage early and often.
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