On Tuesday the Cubs will begin a two-game series against the defending champion Dodgers in Tokyo Japan. The series, which is a continuation of the MLB international series program, opens the 2025 season with many Japanese stars making their homecoming. Here are some of the things you need to know before the series begins.
The Cubs have played in Tokyo before.
Twenty-five years ago the Cubs also opened their season by playing in Tokyo. In March of 2000, the Cubs split a two-game series with the Mets playing in the first MLB regular season game to take place in Tokyo. Since then, Major League Baseball has ramped up its scheduling of international series games featuring their premiere teams and players.
Cubs depending on a dynamic pitching duo
The Cubs will rely on their two aces, Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele in Tokyo. Both are coming off of great 2024 seasons and both look to anchor a Cubs rotation that is top-heavy yet questionable at the bottom.
Shota will be making his homecoming and pitch in Japan for the first time since 2023. In his eight seasons pitching for the NPB Imanaga had a 3.18 ERA and a 64-50 record. This was before he signed with the Cubs last off-season for 4-years and $53 million.
The Cubs have a brand-new lineup
The Cubs have some fresh faces entering their lineup this season. The Cubs are replacing four opening-day starters from last season including Christopher Morel, Cody Bellinger, Yan Gomes, and Nick Madrigal. The big addition this offseason for the Cubs was Superstar Kyle Tucker who will start in right field and demote Seiya Suzuki to the DH spot.
In the past nine months, the Cubs have traded Christopher Morel and Cody Bellinger and have cut Nick Madrigal and Yan Gomes. Replacing them in the hot cotner will be a top prospect, Matt Shaw. The Cubs hope to have upgraded all of those spots, as three of the four players listed contributed negative bWAR for the Cubs last season.
Dodgers will be a litmus test for Cubs early on
The Dodgers may have gotten better after winning the World Series. After winning it all last November the Dodgers made some big additions. These included pitchers Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, and Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.
Speaking of Sasaki, earlier this week, newly extended Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced that he would start Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki in the two games against the Cubs. Yamamoto was excellent last year but had his season reduced by a rotator cuff injury in June. Sasaki will be making his MLB debut, but if his time in NPB is any indication, he may soon be one of the game’s best pitchers.
Most projection systems favor the Dodgers to win over 100 games this season. They are unanimously seen as the best baseball team and employ the best player of our generation in his prime. The lineup is filled with MVPs such as Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Shohei Ohtani. It’s hard to find the Achilles heel on this team.
But the beauty of baseball is that names on paper don’t win games. And with the long 162-game season, anyone can win on any given day. The Cubs will have their work cut out for them in Tokyo.
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