It’s official: The pitching matchup between the Cubs and Dodgers will be Shota Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The game will take place at the Tokyo Dome on March 18.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) runs through drills during spring training camp on Feb 25.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) runs through drills during spring training camp on Feb 25.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs are set to usher in the 2025 season on March 18-19 with a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
And now we know the pitching matchup for the Opening Day contest: The Dodgers will send Japanese righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound while the Cubs will pitch Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga.
That matchup is set to create history on multiple fronts, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs Shota Imanaga in Game 1 in Japan will be:
– the first matchup of Japanese-born SP in a regular-season MLB game at the Tokyo Dome
-the first matchup between Japanese-born SP in an Opening Day game
Yamamoto, 26, signed a 12-year deal with the Dodgers last offseason and promptly helped them win the World Series for the first time since 2020. Though he dealt with an injury that limited him to just 90.0 regular season innings, he went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA. He also struck out 105 batters in those 90.0 innings, showing the kind of stuff that made him an ace in Japan.
Imanaga, 31, signed a more modest four-year deal with the Cubs last offseason, but he greatly outkicked that deal’s coverage by going 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA. He struck out 174 batters in 173.1 innings and earned an All-Star nod.
Furthermore, Imanaga finished fifth in the National League Cy Young voting.
The Asian connection doesn’t stop there, as Shohei Ohtani will be the DH for the Dodgers and Roki Sasaki will also take the mound for Los Angeles in the series.
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