Chicago Cubs vs Los Angeles Dodgers – Japan Series Preview (March 18-19): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
Opening day is here. It’s a little bit early this season for the Cubs as they begin the 2025 campaign in Tokyo against the mighty Dodgers. Expectations have gone up on the North Side with the acquisition of slugging outfielder Kyle Tucker in an off-season trade with the Astros and the continued development of Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field.
The Japan series is a homecoming for two of Chicago’s most important pieces, Seiya Suzuki and Shōta Imanaga, both of whom were excellent in 2024. Imanaga joins Justin Steele at the top of a rotation that should have more depth in 2025.
Things certainly get off to a difficult start for the Cubs with a pair of games against the reigning World Series champion Dodgers. Los Angeles is bringing back pretty much every key contributor from that team and added fireballing Roki Sasaki to the rotation, along with several impressive bullpen arms.
The champs lineup is a murderers’ row featuring 2024 National League MVP/unicorn Shohei Ohtani and former MVP Freddie Freeman. LA’s other MVP, Mookie Betts, is going to miss this series with an illness or the offense would be even scarier.
The Dodgers had to fight through injuries to several starting pitchers last season including opening-day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is healthy and ready to go in game one of this series. Former Cy Young winner Blake Snell came over from the rival Giants this winter to further bolster the rotation.
This set of games isn’t going to be easy for the Cubs but it’s a chance to make a good first impression this season. Nothing that happens this week, barring injury, will have a huge impact on the marathon that is the 162-game MLB season. That being said, it would be a lot of fun to steal a game or two from the best team money can buy.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Tuesday, March 18 at 5:10am CT on FOX and Marquee.
- Wednesday, March 19 at 5:10am CT on FS1 and Marquee.
Starting Pitchers (2024 Stats)
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 3/18 | Shōta Imanaga | 31 | L | 2.91 | 15-3 | 3.72 | 6.21 |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 26 | R | 3.00 | 7–2 | 2.61 | 4.77 | |
| 3/19 | Justin Steele | 29 | L | 3.07 | 5-5 | 3.23 | 3.65 |
| Roki Sasaki | 23 | R | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
What to Watch For
- PCA hit .519 with three home runs this spring, building off an excellent end to 2024.
- Michael Busch was another Cactus League star with a .452 average.
- Tucker is thrilled to be out of Mesa after collecting just a single hit but I don’t think anyone is very concerned with his track record.
- Matt Shaw is making his much-anticipated major league debut in this series, starting at third base.
