The Chicago Cubs were one of the first teams to open up their spring facilities to their pitchers and catchers, and now the Cubs position players are in attendance to prepare for the gauntlet of the Major League Baseball season.
The Cubs will open their season in Japan, where they’ll play the reigning World Series Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the Tokyo Series on March 18.
This quick two-game series will be the Cubs’ first test to go against a playoff-caliber team, and the Cubs will have their top left-hander take the ball to face against what could be the deepest lineup in all of baseball.
The Chicago Cubs announced their Opening Day starter
When the Cubs cross the Pacific to open their season, they will send left-hander Shota Imanaga to the mound to face the World Series Champions, per Marquee Sports Network.
“Shota Imanaga will start Opening Day in Japan”
Shota Imanaga will start Opening Day in Japan 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/UYpU3tx0BT
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 18, 2025
Imanaga, who finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting last season, was an All-Star, and finished in the top 5 for the Cy Young award, is the perfect choice for the job and is emerging as the Cubs Ace.
Shota is the right man for the job
Imanaga is the right man for the job to go up against the Dodgers with decent numbers against them. In two startslast season, the 5-10 lefty went 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA, striking out 7, while allowing 3 earned runs in 11.0 innings pitched.
To further boost Imanaga’s case, he ranked in the 97th percentile last season for K percentage (34.8%) and walk percentage (4.0%), which will be key when facing the Dodgers lineup. Tying his career numbers with his stellar rookie season, Imanaga should have a great chance at leading the Cubs to a win against the Dodgers.
A homecoming for Imanaga
Imanaga, who is a Kitakyushu, Japan native will be returning home to Japan to pitch in front of his countrymen for the first time since coming over to the United States. Kitakyushu is only a 4hr 30min ride by train from Tokyo, and with that being the case the former NPB standout will likely have family in attendance for his debut.
Imanaga spent eight seasons in the NPB where in pitched for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. In his eight seasons, the 175lbs lefty had a 64-50 record with an ERA of 3.18 in 165 games and 1002.2 innings pitched. The 31-year-old also tallied 1021 strikeouts and had a WHIP of 1.118.
Imanaga’s time in Japan also saw him as the winning pitcher for team Samurai Japan in the 2023 WBC. Imanaga pitched two innings and struck out Cedric Mullens and Paul Goldschmidt, who was coming off his 2022 MVP season.
This will be an exciting series
The series between the Cubs and the Dodgers will be electric to kick off the Major League Baseball season.
Both teams enter the season primed to make a postseason run, but the Cubs have more to prove, having not made the playoffs since the shortened 2020 season.
This quick two-game set will show a lot and test whether the Cubs can handle a team as dominant as the Dodgers appear to be entering the 2025 season.
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