Dodgers, Cubs to stage star-studded showdown in Tokyo to begin 2025 season
The last time that Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga were on the Tokyo Dome field, they were in the midst of the World Baseball Classic and were wearing their Samurai Japan uniforms. Now, the three will return -- along with outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who missed the Classic due to injury -- to start the Major League season next March.
Yes, 25 years after MLB opened its season in Tokyo for the first time ever, the Dodgers and Cubs are headed there for a pair of games on March 18 and 19. The Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim is the latest installment in MLB's World Tour, coming after L.A. and San Diego started this season in Seoul and the Mets and Phillies faced off in London last month.
"I’m really excited for it," Imanaga said via interpreter. "In Japan, that’s where I grew as a player. The fans kept rooting for me, so I want to show them now how I grew over here, and they can continue to cheer me on."
"Exciting. That's exciting. It's great for the game," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I think that it was great for us to go to South Korea and get back and start the season well. I think that there's a lot of people in Asia and Japan in particular that are going to be excited to see us. Obviously they've got Seiya [Suzuki] and Imanaga and so it just makes a lot of sense. It's a lot on our plate as the Dodgers to travel, but I think it's a benefit to everyone."
The opener -- taking place before the rest of the MLB clubs begin their regular-season campaigns on March 27 -- is the sixth time that MLB has started the season in Japan. Previously, we saw the Cubs and Mets play there in 2000; Yankees vs. Rays in 2004; Red Sox vs. A's in 2008; Mariners vs. A's in 2012, and -- for Ichiro's final two big league games -- a rematch between Seattle and Oakland in 2019.
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This will be the first time, however, that four Japanese players will be featured on the MLB rosters. Oddly enough, this will be the first time that any of them will call the Tokyo Dome their home stadium: While in the NPB, Ohtani played for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Hokkaidō, Yamamoto suited up for the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka, Imanaga played for the Yokohama BayStars in Kanagawa and Suzuki was a member of the Hiroshima Carp.
"When I was a child, I had the opportunity to go watch the MLB game in Japan," Suzuki said via interpreter. "I never thought that I would be the one to be able to open the season in Japan as a Major Leaguer. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime memory, so I want to prepare myself the best I can."
Click here for more information about the 2025 MLB season schedule.