In preparation for starting opening day against the Cubs in Japan, Yamamoto on Thursday will also start against the Cubs in the first Cactus League game, too.
Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start the Dodgers’ Cactus League opener on Thursday against the Cubs, officially kicking off the club’s slate of 20 games in 20 days in the Arizona portion of their spring training.
Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Wednesday morning at Camelback Ranch of Yamamoto’s start.
Yamamoto will start the Dodgers’ regular season opener at the Tokyo Dome, against Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga on March 18, making for two Japanese starting pitchers on the mound in Japan to open the 2025 regular season. The two games in Tokyo will be televised by Fox Sports nationally and SportsNet LA locally.
Factoring in that Yamamoto will get at least five days of rest between game outings, and eyeing the calendar, there is time for him to make four Cactus League starts before the team departs for Japan.
Starting the regular season isn’t ideal for building pitchers’ stamina, but with only two games to play, there will be heavy relief usage in those games in Japan even if the starters do well. Last year when the Dodgers started in Korea, they carried two starting pitchers and 11 relievers on the active roster for the Seoul Series, and 10 of the 11 relievers pitched in the two days.
“Being resolved to the fact that you don’t have to build pitchers up to six [innings] and 90 [pitches] for the games in Tokyo, I think that we feel really good about that,” Roberts said on MLB Network on February 12. “It’s going to be sort of, use a lot of different arms.”