On March 18 – 19th in Tokyo, Japan, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs clashed at the Tokyo Dome for the first game in the 2025 MLB season. Two Japanese players will duel for game 1. On the mound, the Chicago Cubs have second-year star player Shota Imanaga from Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. Imanaga recorded a 2.91 ERA with 174 Ks and a 15-win season with only 3 losses. Meanwhile, for LA, they will have Yoshinobu Yamamoto from Bizen, Okayama, Japan, dealing on the mound for the Dodgers. Yamamoto recorded a 3.00 ERA with 105 K’s and a 7 – 2 win/loss record. Both teams made some acquisitions in free agency this year. The Dodgers signed many good-quality players. For example, the star left is Blake Snell from San Diego, the hard-throwing pitcher Roki Sasaki from Japan, and one of the best closers in the game, Tanner Scott from Miami, all from free agency. Meanwhile, the Cubs acquired Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressley via trade from the Astros. The Cubs have also signed some other role players to help out.
The Dodgers are looking to go back to back as World Series Champs, beating the New York Yankees in 5 games despite being down 5 – 0 in game 5 and winning it all. Being such a dominant force that nobody wanted to face, but just got way better. As for the Chicago Cubs, they are trying to make their first postseason appearance since 2020 and win the NL Central. The Cubs, for the past couple of seasons, have been a borderline playoff team and are looking to overcome that drought. Both teams will play at 6:10 (ET) on FS1 and will play a 2-game series involving a lot of Japanese players, which will bring a lot of attention to all of the Japanese fans in Tokyo. Hopefully, the series will be a thrilling and hard-fought series between the two ballclubs.