The Los Angeles Dodgers kick off their season early for the second consecutive year, as the team is traveling to Tokyo, Japan to take on the Chicago Cubs for a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome on March 18 and 19.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers leave for Japan in less than two weeks, giving them limited time to finalize their roster competitions.<\/p>\n
More news: <\/strong>Dodgers Announce First Cuts of Spring Training<\/p>\n The competition that matters most for Japan is the one for the final position player roster spot. As of now, it appears there are three players \u2014 Hyeseong Kim, Andy Pages, and James Outman \u2014 competing for one spot. However, it\u2019s possible a non-roster invite such as David Bote or Eddie Rosario sneaks into the competition, too.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, with just eight Cactus League games to go until L.A. heads to Japan, here\u2019s a prediction for what the Dodgers\u2019 Opening Day lineup will look like for Game 1 of the Tokyo Series in Japan.<\/p>\n The Breakdown<\/strong><\/p>\n The top four of the lineup is not only obvious, but has already been revealed by Roberts. Then, going down the line, the Dodgers will likely go lefty, right.<\/p>\n More news: <\/strong>Dodgers All-Star Will Smith Dealing With Bone Bruise on Ankle<\/p>\n The big prediction here is Kim gets left off the Opening Day roster, and instead, Pages takes the spot. The Cubs have the left-handed Shota Imanaga slated to pitch Game 1 in Japan, and Pages was a lefty killer last year.<\/p>\n Across 107 regular season plate appearances against left-handed pitching at the MLB level last year, Pages slashed .357\/.396\/.520 with an OPS of .917. He\u2019s 2-for-15 thus far in spring with one home run and an OPS of .611. Kim is 2-for-17 with one home run and an OPS of .544.<\/p>\n The Cubs are expected to have another left-hander in Justin Steele start the second game of the Tokyo Series. Thus, Pages would likely get the opportunity to start both games, meaning it doesn\u2019t make sense for Kim to travel with the team when he could continue getting reps in Arizona.<\/p>\n While Kim may not be in the starting lineup for Japan, he\u2019ll still have an opportunity to compete for a spot on domestic Opening Day roster. The extra time at Camelback Ranch will only help him make that dream a reality.<\/p>\n More news: <\/strong>Dodgers Could Move Tommy Edman to Second Base Instead of Hyeseong Kim<\/p>\n Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n Have you joined our\u00a0<\/em>Discord Channel\u00a0yet? Be a part of the ultimate Dodgers Nation community and get VIP Nation Access! Don\u2019t miss out on real-time Dodgers talk, call-in access to Dodgers Dougout, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive interviews, giveaways, and more!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here’s a prediction for what the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Opening Day lineup will look like for Game 1 of the Tokyo Series in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":38410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nDodgers Opening Day Lineup Prediction<\/h2>\n
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