The Cubs have named their 2025 Opening Day starter, and it’s about the least surprising announcement possible.
The team officially announced Tuesday that left-hander Shota Imanaga will take the mound on March 18 in his home country when the Cubs open their regular season in Japan with the two-game Tokyo Series against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It was kind of a no-brainer,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell quipped, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.
“I don’t think I have a choice, actually.”
The Cubs and Dodgers will also play in Tokyo on March 19, kicking off the 2025 MLB regular-season slate. First pitch for both games is scheduled for 5:10 a.m. Central time.
Imanaga is an obvious choice to start the opener, both because he gets the chance to pitch in an MLB game in Japan, but also because of the season he had in 2024.
After eight professional seasons in Japan, Imanaga signed with the Cubs and made his MLB debut last season at age 30. He fashioned one of the greatest rookie campaigns in franchise history, finishing with a 15-3 record in 173 1/3 innings over 29 starts, to go with a 2.91 ERA, a 1.021 WHIP and 174 strikeouts to just 28 walks.
Imanaga was named to the National League All-Star team and finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting and fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting.
The Cubs rarely lost a game that Imanaga started last season. They won his first seven starts, Imanaga getting the decision in five of those, and went 23-6 overall when Imanaga took the mound.
Japanese influence
The Cubs and Dodgers were the two clear choices to open the season in Japan, considering they have five Japanese players on their rosters between them.
In addition to Imanaga, the Cubs have outfielder Seiya Suzuki. The Dodgers have three, superstar two-way player Shohei Ohtani and pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, the prized 23-year-old fireballer who signed with the Dodgers this offseason.
Last week, according to Sonja Chen of dodgers.com, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Yamamoto would get the start on Opening Day — now confirmed to be against Imanaga —while Sasaki will start the second game of the Tokyo Series.
Imanaga and Yamamoto faced each other once last season, a 6-3 Cubs victory on Sept. 10 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Imanaga got the win, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks over seven innings.
The Cubs scored just an unearned run on three hits off Yamamoto, who struck out eight and walked none. But it was his first start after missing nearly three months with an injury, so he threw just 59 pitches and came out after four innings, then the Cubs scored five runs off the Dodgers’ bullpen.
Following the Tokyo Series, the Cubs return to Arizona to finish spring training camp, then they remain in Arizona to “reopen” the regular season on March 27 against the Diamondbacks. After a seven-game road trip, the Cubs return to Wrigley Field for the home opener on Friday afternoon, April 4, against the San Diego Padres.