For the first time in league history, MLB is headed to South Korea. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will kick off the 2024 season with the MLB World Tour Seoul Series 2024, where the two teams are playing a handful of exhibition games before facing each other in the first regular-season games of the year. Here's everything you need to know about the Seoul Series.
When and where is the Seoul Series?
The MLB World Tour will feature regular-season games in four different international locations this season. The first of which will be the Seoul Series. MLB is expanding their reach worldwide, and this season, that will include the first regular-season games in South Korea.
The venue for the Seoul Series is the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea. The Dodgers and Padres will play each other in back-to-back games on March 20 and 21. Both games will be at 6:05 p.m. ET.
Before the 2024 season-opening games, both teams are playing local talent in exhibition matches. On March 17, the Dodgers beat the Kiwoom Heroes by a score of 14-3, while the Padres secured a 1-0 win over Team Korea. On March 18, Team Korea will now face the Dodgers, while the Padres are set to get one last exhibition game in against the LG Twins.
How to watch the Seoul Series
In the local markets, the Seoul Series will be broadcast on SportsNet LA and Padres.TV. ESPN will broadcast the games outside of the local markets. Additionally, Padres games are on fuboTV.
Date: March 20/21 | Time: 6:05 p.m. ET
Location: Gocheck Sky Dome – Seoul, South Korea
TV channel: ESPN (national broadcast) | Live stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)
Seoul Series storylines
The Dodgers and Padres are two of the most exciting teams in baseball, and they will surely put on an epic performance in front of the Korean fans. The two teams were responsible for some of the biggest offseason transactions. Most notably, the Dodgers made Shohei Ohtani the highest-paid athlete in sports history.
While the two-way star from Japan won't be pitching this season as he recovers from a torn UCL, his massive contract was still well worth it, and Ohtani figures to be arguably the best player at the plate once again. Ohtani isn't the only Japanese star who is expected to play a big part in the Dodgers' run towards the World Series this season, though. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is making his MLB debut with the Dodgers this season.
The pitcher has been one of the best baseball players outside of MLB for years now, but he actually won't be the Opening Day starter. While Yamamoto is expected to start the second game of the Seoul Series, it is Tyler Glasnow who will start in Game 1 for the Dodgers. Glasnow was yet another massive offseason acquisition for Los Angeles. The team traded a number of prospects before giving their new ace a massive five-year, $136.5 million deal.
On top of all of the big names they added, the Dodgers also returned a number of their biggest stars. Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy are still some of the best offensive players in the league. While the Dodgers are World Series favorites, their Seoul Series opponent proved that having tons of talent at the top doesn't always lead to success.
Last season, many fans predicted the Padres to win it all because of the amount of elite talent they had. The team ended up missing the playoffs, though, and now stars like Juan Soto, Josh Hader, and Blake Snell will be playing elsewhere. However, San Diego still has a stacked roster and can surely have a bounce-back season this year. Yu Darvish is stepping up as the Opening Day starter, and Joe Musgrave will take the mound in the second game of the Seoul Series.
Their three-headed pitching monster might have gotten even better, too, despite the loss of Snell to free agency. The team just made a blockbuster deal by trading for the biggest name — Dylan Cease — on the trade block. Like Snell, Cease brings tons of velocity and some nasty spin rates, but consistency with pitch location is always the concern. Cease is only a year removed from being second in Cy Young voting, though, and he is definitely one of the best pitchers in baseball.
The lineup still features stars, including Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, and Manny Machado, but there is some lineup shuffling from last year's squad. Bogaerts is moving from shortstop to second base, and Machado will start the year as a designated hitter because of elbow surgery. Bogaerts move to second base allows Ha-Seong Kim — a South Korean player — to take over at shortstop. Jackson Merrill is also a name to watch out for. Merrill is one of the best prospects in baseball, and a red-hot spring training has earned him a starting role.
The MLB World Tour is a great chance to expand the popularity of the game of baseball worldwide, and no two teams would be better to headline the Seoul Series than the Dodgers and Padres. Kim is one of the best Korean baseball players in the world, and Darvish, Ohtani, and Yamamoto are some of the best players ever to represent the continent of Asia. They will all bring a show to South Korea, and you won't want to miss it.
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