A hearty homecoming is on tap as Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers will open the 2025 MLB season in Tokyo on Tuesday against fellow Japanese countrymen Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki and the Chicago Cubs.
Yamamoto will take the mound for the reigning World Series champion Dodgers in the first contest of a two-game set labeled the Tokyo Series. Imanaga will have the honor for the Cubs.
Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, one of the top free agents on the market in the offseason, will start on Wednesday for Los Angeles against Chicago left-hander Justin Steele.
But let’s start with Ohtani, who was named the National League MVP last season after becoming the first 50-50 player in MLB history. The two-way standout batted .310 with a 1.036 OPS, 54 home runs, 130 RBIs and 59 stolen bases to propel the Dodgers to the NL West title following a 98-64 record.
A five-game win over the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series and a six-game triumph in the NL Championship Series against the New York Mets advanced the club to the World Series.
Ohtani, however, sustained a labrum tear in his left shoulder while stealing second base during Los Angeles’ victory in Game 2 against the New York Yankees. The Dodgers won the title in five games.
Ohtani, 30, on Saturday showed he’s got a clean bill of health, launching a two-run homer in the third inning of Los Angeles’ 5-1 win in an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants.
“We’re all waiting in great anticipation,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said of the upcoming series. “Shohei, to be quite honest, in the last seven years has represented almost singlehandedly the people of Japan. So for him to come back here in person, it’s going to be an emotional night for a lot of people, I’m sure.”
Yamamoto, 26, posted a 7-2 record with a 3.00 ERA in 18 appearances (all starts) last season, his first in the majors.
The right-hander faced the Cubs on two occasions, scattering three hits and striking out eight over five scoreless innings in a 4-1 win on April 6 before receiving a no-decision in the rematch on Sept. 10. He allowed an unearned run on three hits and struck out eight in four innings in that contest.
Like Yamamoto, Imanaga also fared well in his first season in the majors.
Imanaga, 31, was named to the NL All-Star team and posted a 15-3 mark and a 2.91 ERA in 29 appearances (all starts) for the Cubs. He was a top-five finisher in the NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year voting.
The left-hander went 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers last season.
Before joining the Cubs in 2022, Suzuki was a five-time All-Star and five-time Golden Glove Award winner with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Nippon Professional Baseball.
He recalled his pro career in Japan after the Cubs lost an exhibition game 3-0 to the Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome.
“I have a lot of good memories at this stadium,” Suzuki, 30, said via an interpreter. “The cheers before I stepped in the box, I definitely heard it. Just overall, today was a really good experience.”
Chicago finished with an 83-79 record last season, good enough for second place in the NL Central. That was not good enough, however, to prevent the Cubs’ playoff drought from extending to four years.
Offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker is expected to provide a jolt for Chicago after being obtained from the Houston Astros in the offseason. The Cubs promptly signed the three-time All-Star to a one-year, $16.5 million deal to avoid arbitration.
Tucker, 28, batted .274 with 125 homers, 135 doubles and 417 RBIs in 633 career games for Houston since making his debut in 2018.
