MLB’s biggest Japanese stars will open the 2025 season on home soil.
Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers will take on Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki and the Cubs at the Tokyo Dome to open the season on March 18 and March 19. The rest of the league will open their seasons on March 27.
The news means the Dodgers will already have played two games before opening their season at home against the Tigers.
The series is the latest installment in MLB’s World Tour, which brought games between L.A. and San Diego to Seoul to open the 2024 season and saw the Mets and Phillies face off in London in June.
This will be the sixth time that MLB has started the season in Japan. Previous series include Cubs vs. Mets in 2000, Yankees vs. Rays in 2004, Red Sox vs. A’s in 2008 and Mariners vs. A’s in 2012.
Seattle and Oakland also played in Japan for Ichiro’s final two big league games in 2019.
This will be the first time that four Japanese players will be featured on the MLB rosters playing in Japan, according to MLB.com.
While in the NPB, Ohtani previously played for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Hokkaidō and Yamamoto for the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka.
Imanaga played for the Yokohama BayStars in Kanagawa and Suzuki was a member of the Hiroshima Carp.
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