One thing was abundantly clear during Game 1 of the Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs: the Dodgers are going to win a lot of baseball games this year.
The defending World Series champs started their title defense with a crisp 4-1 victory over the Cubs in front of a sold-out Tokyo Dome. Even without superstars like Mookie Betts (illness) and Freddie Freeman (rib discomfort), the Dodgers demonstrated just how deep their roster runs compared to the rest of the league.
This isn’t exactly groundbreaking news. The Dodgers’ financial firepower is rivaled only by the New York Yankees and New York Mets. In the past two offseasons, Los Angeles has spent more money than anybody other than the top one percent will ever see in their entire lives. While 29 other baseball fanbases seethe over the Dodgers’ deep pockets, one thing is undeniable: it’s a strategy that’s working. After all, it brought the Dodgers their first non-COVID season World Series title since 1981.
Everybody’s opinions about the Dodgers aside, Game 1 of the Tokyo Series provided amazing scenes. Thousands of fans crowded into the beautiful Tokyo Dome to catch a glimpse of some of their favorite players, especially those from Japan.
Naturally, Shohei Ohtani was the main attraction.
Ohtani is coming off a season where he hit 50 home runs and stole 50 bases, a feat that had never been accomplished in a single season before last year. He was named the unanimous MVP for his efforts. As would be expected, he was given a hero’s welcome back in Tokyo. And while he didn’t provide the 42,000 in attendance with one of his trademark jaw-dropping moments, Ohtani was still a key contributor to the Dodgers’ win. After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Ohtani sparked a rally in the top of the fifth with a sharp single to right field. He eventually scored to put the Dodgers ahead—a lead they’d never relinquish. In the ninth, he tallied his second hit of the game, a scorching double off former Dodgers’ reliever Ryan Brasier, then came around to score on a Teoscar Hernández single later in the frame.
How does Ohtani not win the MVP again this year? Unlike last season, Ohtani is slated to pitch again after fully recovering from the Tommy John surgery he had back in 2023. If he puts up just decent numbers on the mound while remaining a top-five hitter in the league, the award is his for the taking.
Meanwhile, the Japanese pitching was also stellar. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Cubs hurler Shota Imanaga gave the Tokyo faithful a show.
Yamamoto was spectacular in his return to Japan, throwing five (almost) flawless innings. The only blemish was an RBI double by Miguel Amaya that drove in Dansby Swanson in the bottom of the second inning. Besides that, Yamamoto shut the Cubs down. His splitter was particularly devastating. Cubs’ hitters routinely chopped it straight into the Tokyo Dome turf, while the pitch made them swing and miss nine times. Yamamoto possesses all the tools to emerge as a top-10 pitcher in MLB in his second season, and if his inaugural start of the 2025 campaign is any indication, he’s well on his way.
Imanaga may not have the same star power as Yamamoto, but he wasn’t too bad himself in his return to Japan. Over four innings, he shut down the Dodgers’ offense, allowing no runs and no hits, though his command faltered with four walks. That spotty command could be a reason why Cubs’ manager Craig Counsell made the bizarre decision to pull Imanaga after just four innings, handing the ball off to Ben Brown, who subsequently gave up three runs over his 2.2 innings on the mound. As Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman noted in their game recap, pulling Imanaga wasn’t just a poor tactical move, it was a disservice to the fans who wanted to see Imanaga pitch for more than just a measly four innings. For many, this was likely their one chance to see him pitch on their home soil, and they were left wanting more. It’s just icing on the cake that it arguably also cost the Cubs the game.
Cubs’ outfielder Seiya Suzuki, the other Japanese player participating in the game, was lackluster in his return to his home country. A reliable fixture in Chicago’s lineup for the past three seasons, Suzuki has played 111 or more games each year while also posting a combined OPS+ of 128. Nonetheless, the Dodgers’ pitching carved him up in the first game of the year. Suzuki was hitless in four at-bats, striking out once and never making solid contact—none of his batted balls topped 80 MPH in exit velocity. Obviously, one game is the smallest of sample sizes. The Cubs, and their fans, have no reason to be worried about Suzuki going forward; it’s just disappointing that he wasn’t able to provide the homecoming fireworks that Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Imanaga managed to deliver.
The Japanese star power doesn’t stop with that elite foursome—tomorrow, the spotlight shifts to Roki Sasaki, making his highly anticipated MLB debut on the mound for the Dodgers. Sasaki emerged onto the global stage during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where his eye-popping velocity and unhittable splitter made batters look silly. His brilliance didn’t start there; in Japan, Sasaki reached mythical status, most famously when he threw 17 consecutive perfect innings across two starts in April 2022. His arrival to the United States sparked controversy when he decided to sign with the Dodgers, a team already loaded with superstars and in no need of a talent like Sasaki’s. His presence in Los Angeles only intensifies the fire of contempt the rest of the baseball universe has for the Dodgers right now.
Waking up at 5 AM to watch a baseball game was unfamiliar territory. As I sat in a dark living room lit up only by the blue light of my television, I thought about how blessed I was to be watching meaningful baseball again. Spring Training is great, don’t get me wrong. I just got back from Arizona and got to see some of my favorite players up close in a personal environment that one would never get at a regular season MLB game. But those games don’t count, at least to the fans watching them. While the circumstances were different and out of the ordinary, Dodgers-Cubs counted this morning.
Everything else kicks into gear on Opening Day on March 27. The Dodgers and Cubs, who will play one more game in Tokyo tomorrow morning, will be back stateside, playing the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively. My favorite team, the Texas Rangers, will be looking to bounce back after a middling 2024. The New York Yankees, last year’s runner-ups, were forced to retool this offseason after losing Juan Soto to the cross-town New York Mets. Will they be able to get back to the promised land?
There are so many questions surrounding the 2025 MLB season, but there’s only one certainty: the Dodgers will run this league. Does that mean they’ll win the World Series? No, it doesn’t. But they are going to win a ton of games, and people are going to hate them for it.