Home again: Japanese stars take centre stage for Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs in Tokyo
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The Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani before the game against the Hanshin Tigers in Tokyo on March 16.
PHOTO: IMAGN IMAGES
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TOKYO – A hearty homecoming is on tap as Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers will open the new Major League Baseball (MLB) season at the Tokyo Dome on March 18 against fellow Japanese Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki and the Chicago Cubs.
Yamamoto will take the mound for the reigning World Series champions Dodgers in the first contest of a two-game set labelled the Tokyo Series. Imanaga will have the honour for the Cubs.
Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, one of the top free agents on the market in the off-season, will start on March 19 for Los Angeles against Chicago left-hander Justin Steele.
Ohtani was the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player last season
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 left shoulder injury while stealing second base during Los Angeles’ victory in Game 2 against the New York Yankees. But he returned to help the Dodgers claim the World Series in five games.
Ohtani, 30, on March 15 showed he has 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 single-handedly 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 earned run average (ERA) in 18 appearances last season, his first in the MLB.
Like Yamamoto, Imanaga also fared well in his first season. The 31-year-old was named to the NL All-Star team and posted a 15-3 mark and a 2.91 ERA in 29 appearances for the Cubs. He was a top-five finisher in the NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year ballot.
Before joining the Cubs in 2022, Suzuki was a five-time All-Star and five-time Golden Glove winner with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Suzuki was reminded of his career in Japan after the Cubs’ 3-0 loss to Hanshin Tigers in an exhibition game at the Tokyo Dome on March 15.
“I have a lot of good memories at this stadium. Just overall, today was a really good experience,” the 30-year-old said via an interpreter.
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’ play-off drought from extending to four years.
Off-season 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, US$16.5 million (S$22 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. REUTERS
