Yamamoto, Sasaki expected to open season for Dodgers in Tokyo
Published
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday the team is planning to have Japanese right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki pitch in Tokyo as the team opens the 2024 season against the Chicago Cubs.
The Dodgers take on the Cubs on March 18 and March 19 at the iconic Tokyo Dome, serving as the 2025 MLB regular season opener. The team will then return to spring training before re-opening their regular season schedule on March 27.
The Dodgers played the San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea to kick off the 2024 season, where Shohei Ohtani made his official Dodgers regular season debut.
Ohtani won't be ready to take the mound in Japan this spring as he continues to recover from off-season surgery on a torn labrum that was described earlier this month as "complicated." He is expected to be ready to hit as the Dodgers open the 2025 campaign but his return to the mound remains up in the air.
Yamamoto made his Dodgers debut in Seoul last March and it ended up being his worst outing of the season. Yamamoto allowed five earned runs in just one inning of work, but rebounded nicely to close out the season with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts.
Sasaki is expected to make his Dodgers debut after signing as a much anticipated free agent this past winter. The 23-year-old spent the previous four seasons with the NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines, located in nearby Chiba just outside of Tokyo. Sasaki was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 starts last season spread out over 111.0 innings pitched.
The series in Tokyo will also be a homecoming for Chicago outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who was born in a Tokyo suburb and spent nine season with the NPB's Hiroshima Carp before joining the Cubs prior to the 2022 season. Suzuki slashed .283/.366/.482 with 21 home runs and 73 RBI in 132 games with the Cubs last season.
The Dodgers and Padres split their two-game series in Seoul last year one game apiece.