{"id":35371,"date":"2025-02-19T11:47:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T11:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=35371"},"modified":"2025-02-19T11:47:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T11:47:24","slug":"cubs-announce-shota-imanaga-as-opening-day-starter-to-face-dodgers-in-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=35371","title":{"rendered":"Cubs Announce Shota Imanaga As Opening Day Starter to Face Dodgers in Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers will open the 2025 MLB season with a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have previously expressed their plans to have Japan native Yoshinobu Yamamoto toeing the rubber for Opening Day, and now the Cubs have revealed who will be on the mound from their side.<\/p>\n

The team announced Tuesday that Shota Imanaga would be their starting pitcher for the March 18 clash. Imanaga, who is also from Japan, will clash with Yamamoto in what figures to be an enthralling duel on the mound in front of fans from their home country.<\/p>\n

Last season was Imanaga’s first year in MLB. He debuted as a 30-year-old rookie and made the NL All-Star team in his first season. The southpaw posted a 15\u20133 record with a sterling 2.91 ERA and 174 strikeouts across 173 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

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Home is where the Sho is. pic.twitter.com\/JeceHu6NEH<\/p>\n

\u2014 Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 18, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

The stage is set for Opening Day from Tokyo. The matchup between Imanaga and Yamamoto will represent the first-ever matchup of Japanese-born starting pitchers in an MLB Opening Day clash, according to MLB Network’s Sarah Langs. It’s also the first time two Japanese pitchers will duel for MLB at the Tokyo Dome.<\/p>\n

First pitch from the Tokyo Dome is set for 6:10 a.m. ET on March 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shota Imanaga will toe the rubber in his native Japan when the Cubs open the 2025 MLB season against the Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":35372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nCubs Announce Shota Imanaga As Opening Day Starter to Face Dodgers in Tokyo - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=35371\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs Announce Shota Imanaga As Opening Day Starter to Face Dodgers in Tokyo - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shota Imanaga will toe the rubber in his native Japan when the Cubs open the 2025 MLB season against the Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=35371\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-19T11:47:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/avtvip-40-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=35371\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=35371\",\"name\":\"Cubs Announce Shota Imanaga As Opening Day Starter to Face Dodgers in Tokyo - 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