WBSC Premier12 winners Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga to face each other in MLB Tokyo Series opener
The Major League Baseball (MLB) season will begin in Tokyo on Tuesday, March 18, at 8:10 p.m. (local time). The opener of the two-game Tokyo Series will be between the defending World Series Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Chicago Cubs.
Both starting pitchers will be Japanese and international baseball stars. The Dodgers will hand the ball to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, while the Cubs will start Shota Imanaga.
Born in 1993, Imanaga is a left-handed pitcher who made his NPB debut in 2016 for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. He became a premium starter in 2019 after starring in the 2018-2019 Australian Baseball League (ABL). He started two games for Japan at the WBSC Premier12 2019. On 7 June 2022, Imanaga threw the 85th no-hitter in NPB's history. He enjoyed his best season in 2023. He started the World Baseball Classic final against the United States. He later dominated NPB's Central League hitters with 188 strikeouts. Imanaga joined WBSC Premier12 2019 MVP Seiya Suzuki on the Cubs' roster before the 2024 season.
Born in 1998, Yamamoto has been part of Japan's winning teams for the WBSC Premier12 2019, Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and World Baseball Classic 2023.
After the right-hander transitioned from the bullpen to the Buffaloes starting rotation in 2019, his NPB career became legendary. Yamamoto has dominated the Pacific League in the last three seasons, besting the league in wins, strikeouts and Earned Run Average (ERA) for three consecutive seasons. He became the second pitcher in NPB's history to win three consecutive Eiji Sawamura Awards for the best pitcher after Hall of Famer Masaichi Kaneda (1933-2019). Yamamoto has been the Pacific League's MVP in 2021, 2022 and 2023. He joined the Dodgers together with Shohei Ohtani before the 2023 season.
"To be on a stage like this in Tokyo, Japanese pitchers facing off on the field is an incredible opportunity," Yamamoto said through an interpreter. "I’m going to try my best to perform."
The Dodgers will turn to Roki Sasaki, their off-season sensational signing, for Game Two, scheduled for Wednesday, March 19, at 8:10 p.m. (local time).
Born in 2001, Sasaki set a high school record when his fastball hit 101 miles (or 163 kilometres) per hour. After he represented Japan at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2019, the Chiba Lotte Marines selected him at No. 1 in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft.
Sasaki made his professional debut on May 16, 2021. He pitched 11 games in his rookie season, combining 83.1 innings. On April 10, 2022, he pitched the 16th perfect game in NPB history, the first since 1994. Sasaki became the youngest pitcher to go perfect. He struck out 19 Oryx Buffaloes hitters. He also broke a world record, striking out 13 consecutive batters in the game. Sasaki has a 2.10 earned run average (ERA) in his four NPB seasons and struck out 505 batters in 394.2 innings. He helped Japan win the World Baseball Classic in 2023.
The Cubs will respond with 29-year-old left-hander Justin Steele, their 2024 season Opening Day starter.
"We get the opportunity to play the world champions, which means it’s a great challenge and a great way to start our test," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
Ohtani won't be a starting pitcher in the Tokyo Series but will play designated hitter and is listed as the Dodgers' leadoff hitter. He has already attracted unprecedented attention in Tokyo.
"Just about everywhere you look in these bustling streets, there he is," wrote Sonja Chen on MLB.com. "Cooking up spaghetti with a flourish, adeptly juggling a soccer ball, angling his wrist to display a high-end watch, staring contemplatively off into the distance in a tea field -- and of course, swinging a bat. He is Shohei Ohtani."
The Dodgers lineup will include Premier12 2015 veteran Teoscar Hernandez and World Baseball Classic alums Freddie Freeman and Michael Conforto. Manager Dace Roberts announced that superstar Mookie Betts won't be available for the two games.
The Cubs lineup will include Seiya Suzuki, WBSC Premier12 2024 All-World Team third baseman Matt Shaw and WBSC U-18 Baseball World 2019 All-World Team ouitfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The Tokyo Dome, the venue of three WBSC Premier12 Finals, will host MLB Opening Day for the sixth time, following the series in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2019. Four other countries outside the US have also hosted MLB Opening Day: Mexico in 1999, Puerto Rico in 2001, Australia in 2014, and Korea in 2024.