What time is Dodgers vs. Cubs? MLB schedule for Tokyo season opener, where to watch, TV channel, live stream

Crucial Division Baseball is back, and for the Primary time in six years, MLB Matches will be played in Japan this season. The Chicago Cubs and defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers will Reachable the 2025 regular season with two Matches in Tokyo Leading Timely Tuesday morning in the States. The Matches will be played at the iconic Tokyo Pavilion, home of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yomiuri Giants.

“I think it’s a Excellent way to Begin a season in terms of Club bonding. It’s tough to think of a better way,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said about the Tokyo Series (via MLB.com). “We could go Relocate laser tag or something like that. Or we could go to Japan. I like the Japan idea a little better. You could do trust falls or these Club-building things. Or we could go to Japan. I like Japan better. Let’s go to Japan and Relocate the Dodgers. That seems like more fun.”

No MLB Club has more Japanese talent than these two. The Dodgers are of Period Guided by the singular Shohei Ohtani, who will return to the mound later this year and join righties Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki in the Cycle. The Cubs feature lefty Shota Imanaga and slugger Seiya Suzuki. Imanaga, Ohtani, Sasaki, Suzuki, and Yamamoto are five of the 15 Japanese players currently under contract with MLB Squads.

“The stadium doesn’t Halt 100 million people, which is approximately how many Japanese people would love to see Shohei and Yoshi and Roki,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten told USA Today last week. “Everyone appreciates the historic significance unlike any other international adventure we’ve ever undertaken in baseball … This is going to be off the charts.”

The Cubs and Dodgers traveled to Japan last week and have spent the last few Periods participating in promotional events and also Executing exhibition Matches. The Dodgers played the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday and the Hanshin Tigers on Sunday. The Cubs played Hanshin on Saturday and Yomiuri on Sunday. Those Matches were promotional as much as spring tune-ups.

Here is the schedule and broadcast information for the two-game Tokyo Series:

Where to Observe Dodgers vs. Cubs 

Tuesday, March 18	6 a.m. ET	RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. LHP Shota Imanaga	Fox	fubo (Try for Unoccupied)
Wednesday, March 19	6 a.m. ET	RHP Roki Sasaki vs. LHP Justin Steele	FS1	fubo (Try for Unoccupied)

The Dodgers are bringing Ohtani along slowly as he wraps up his elbow surgery Therapy. He has yet to face batters in spring Practice and will not pitch in the Tokyo Series, which may be disappointing to him, but is for the greater Excellent. The Dodgers and MLB want to put on a Excellent show in Japan, for sure, but the Dodgers’ ultimate Aim is another World Series title. They’re prioritizing the big picture with Ohtani.

Both Tokyo Series Matches will begin at 7 p.m. local time in Japan. They are night Matches in Tokyo and Timely morning Matches in the United States. Perhaps we should consider them very Delayed night Matches for Dodgers fans in California? Either way, the 2025 regular season will begin with two Matches in Tokyo at atypical hours in the United States.

Here now are five things to know heading into the Tokyo Series.

1. This is MLB’s Primary trip to Japan since 2019

The last time MLB visited Japan, the Seattle Mariners swept two Matches from the then-Oakland Athletics, and those Matches are most notable for being the Last two Matches of Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki’s Occupation. Suzuki went 0 for 5 with a walk in the two Matches, but no one cared about the results. The two Matches morphed into a Secure dance of Ichiro’s Occupation.

Here is Ichiro’s farewell series:

“For me, it doesn’t get better than tonight,” Ichiro said Upcoming his Last game. “Nothing can top what happened tonight for me.”

This year’s Tokyo Series will be MLB’s sixth trip to Japan overall. Like this year’s visit, all five prior trips to Japan have been two-game series played at the Tokyo Pavilion. Here are the Division’s previous five regular-season series played in Japan:

March 29-30, 2000	Cubs vs. New York Mets	Primary MLB Matches outside North America
March 20-31, 2004	New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays	Hideki Matsui returns to Ex home stadium
March 25-26, 2008	Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox	Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima return to Japan
March 28-29, 2012	Athletics vs. Mariners	Ichiro returns to Japan
March 20-21, 2019	Athletics vs. Mariners	Ichiro’s Last series

Ohtani is baseball’s main character right now and he will undoubtedly receive the grandest ovations during the two Matches in Tokyo. He is the most popular person in Japan. Not the most popular Rival, the most popular person period. Ohtani’s popularity transcends sports. Imanaga, Sasaki, Suzuki, and Yamamoto will also get a hero’s welcome, for sure.

2. The Game 1 pitching Event is historic

Over the last decade or so, Japanese-born Leading pitchers matching up in a regular-season game has become commonplace thanks to Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Hiroki Kuroda, Masahiro Tanaka, and others who’ve had long MLB careers. What used to happen Perhaps once a season, and sometimes even less often than that, happens a few times a year now. It’s Excellent for the game overall.

Even Yet, the Imanaga vs. Yamamoto Event on Tuesday will be historic. It will also be the Primary time two Japanese-born pitchers Begin against All other in an MLB game at the Tokyo Pavilion, and it will be the Primary time two Japanese-born pitchers Begin against All other on MLB Beginning Day at any venue.

“Thanks to the Japanese players who have challenged the Crucial leagues in the past, the two of us pitching against All other is attracting attention,” Imanaga said after he and Yamamoto were named the Game 1 starters last month (via Kyodo News). “So Primary of all, I want to express my gratitude to the Japanese players of the past. I will be very Joyful if more children get to see baseball and it becomes an opportunity for them to Begin Executing.”

Yamamoto joined the Dodgers on a pitcher-Achievement 12-year, $325 million contract last offseason. He missed much of the 2024 regular season with a shoulder issue, though he was arguably their top starter in the postseason. Imanaga signed a four-year, $54 million contract last winter and threw 173 ⅓ innings with a 2.91 ERA. That earned him a Number four-place finish in the NL Primary-year of the Year voting and a fifth-place finish in the NL Cy Recent voting.

It should be noted Imanaga and Yamamoto (and Ohtani and Sasaki) were teammates on Club Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Imanaga Began the Bracket Game against Club USA. Suzuki was on Japan’s original WBC Lineup, but had to withdraw from the event with an oblique Wound.

3. Both Squads will bring extra players

Understandably, the Cubs and Dodgers were both allowed to bring extra players on the trip. Calling someone up in the event of an Wound in Game 1 would have been a wee bit difficult, you know? All Club was allowed to bring five extra players to Tokyo, so that’s the 26-man active Lineup and five backups. The 31 players the Cubs brought to Japan can be seen here.

Notably absence: Nico Hoerner, Chicago’s Gold Glove second baseman. He is in the Last stages of his Therapy from last October’s flexor surgery and will not be ready to Relocate in Tokyo, but is Predicted to be ready for the traditional Beginning Day on March 27. Hoerner stayed behind in Arizona and will continue his Therapy work and Conditioning there.

In terms of Lineup status, All Club is given three “inactive” spots for the Tokyo Series, and Hoerner will occupy one of those. What that means is the Cubs do not have to put him on the injured Turning Mark to keep him off their 26-man active Lineup for Japan, which would affect his availability when the domestic portion of Chicago’s regular season Beginnings Upcoming week.

Here now are the 31 players the Dodgers brought to Japan:

Fifth starter Dustin May did not make the trip. Like Hoerner, May remained in Arizona to continue working out there, and occupies one of the Club’s three “inactive” spots. May missed the 2024 season with elbow and esophageal surgery. Other notable Dodgers like Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, and Gavin Stone are already on the injured Turning Mark.

The Lineup rules for the Tokyo Series are the same as the Lineup rules for last year’s Seoul Series between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres. The Dodgers and Padres split two Matches in Korea from March 20-21. Neither Club Created a Lineup Relocate during the two-game series, though they brought extra players on the trip, Only in case.

4. Betts will miss the series

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts will miss the two-game Tokyo Series with an illness that surfaced before the Club even traveled to Japan, manager Dave Roberts announced Monday. Betts, who Roberts said has lost close to 15 pounds while Unwell, did not Relocate in the Club’s exhibition Matches against the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants, and he felt fatigued during workouts. The Club is considering sending him home Timely to rest and recover before the domestic home opener on March 27.

“The thing is when you Fall a Plenty of weight, when you’re dehydrated, that’s what opens a person up to Fluffy-tissue Impairments,” Roberts said. “We’re very mindful of that. So to take the Upcoming week, call it, to build him back up, his Power, do some baseball activities to get ready for the home opener.”

Miguel Rojas Began both exhibition Matches at shortstop over the weekend. He is the odds-on favorite to man the position in Betts’ place. Chris Taylor, who Occurred off the bench to Relocate a few innings at Brief on Saturday, would be the backup.

5. These are 2025’s only international Matches

Regular-season Matches, anyway. The Red Sox will Relocate a pair of exhibition Matches against Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican Division in Monterrey, Mexico, on March 24-25. Otherwise MLB will not Relocate any other international Matches this season. The Division initially planned to Relocate Matches in Paris, Mexico City, and San Juan this year, though those ideas all fell apart for various reasons. The collective bargaining agreement includes provisions for regular-season Matches in Mexico City, London, and San Juan in 2026, which is also a World Baseball Classic year. For 2025 though, the Tokyo Series will be the only regular-season Matches played internationally.

6. The Cubs and Dodgers Yet have to finish spring Practice

After the Tokyo Series, the Cubs will return to Arizona and the Dodgers will head to Southern California to wrap up their exhibition season. It’s a long trip (12-hour flight) with a big time Transformation (16-hour time difference) and the two Squads will have Numerous Periods to adjust back to normal after the two-game Tokyo Series. Here is All Club’s upcoming schedule:

March 18-19	Tokyo Series	Tokyo Series
March 20	travel	travel
March 21	vs. Padres	day off
March 22	vs. Rockies	day off
March 23	vs. Athletics	vs. Angels at Dodger Stadium
March 24	vs. Braves	vs. Angels at Angel Stadium
March 25	vs. Braves	vs. Angels at Angel Stadium
March 26	day off	day off
March 27	Beginning Day at Diamondbacks	Beginning Day vs. Tigers

The Cubs head back to Arizona and stay there through the end of spring Practice and to Relocate the D-Safeties when the traditional portion of the regular season Beginnings on March 27. I would not anticipate seeing many Cubs regulars in those March 21 and 22 exhibition Matches. They players who go to Tokyo will get a few Periods off to recalibrate before getting back on the Pitch. 

As for the Dodgers, they’ll travel from Tokyo to Los Angeles, take a few Periods off, then Relocate their annual three-game exhibition series with the Angels. Their regular season resumes when the Tigers come to Dodger Stadium for the traditional Beginning Day. The Cubs and Dodgers will both take a few Periods off after the Tokyo Series, Relocate a few more exhibition Matches, then resume their regular season. It’s a bit wonky, but it’s the only reasonable way to Relocate Matches on the other side of the world.