The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs are kicking off the 2025 MLB season in a series in Tokyo. The Dodgers are fresh off a World Series title and have loaded up once again.

Both the Dodgers and the Cubs have Japanese stars on their rosters, which will make the Tokyo series exciting for local fans. The Dodgers have Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, and while the Cubs have Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki.

Ahead of the series, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a request for Americans while speaking about his excitement for the series, per MLB.com's Sonja Chen.

“This is one of the most exciting Opening Days I’ve ever had — from a player to a coach to a manager — opening up the season in Tokyo,” Roberts said. “My aunts, my uncles, my cousins are all gonna be able to see. I love the country of Japan. And obviously, with the three Japanese players that we have, just to see how we are received, I’m very excited about.”

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“And I will say this, I really hope the people in the States learn from the people in Japan, how they treat people,” Roberts continued. “In Japan, there’s just a lot of respect, and people are kind. And for us to go over there into their country, I’m very honored. Very honored.”

Dodgers star Max Muncy also spoke about the culture – both baseball and the Japanese culture as a whole, per Chen:

“The Japanese culture as a whole, it's so different from how we are over here that I'm really looking forward to just seeing everything.”

The Tokyo Series begins on Tuesday, March 18. In anticipation, the Dodgers have named Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the starter and the Cubs are rolling with fellow Japanese star Shota Imanaga as their starter for the first game of the series.