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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Yoshinobu Yamamoto is likely to start for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they open the season against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo on March 18 and Roki Sasaki could make his major league debut the next day.
The two Japanese pitchers and two-way star Shohei Ohtani will be the main attraction for Japanese fans during the two-game series. The Cubs have Japanese players Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki.
“I think it’s fair to say that Yamamoto will pitch that first one,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday. “Then with Roki — like I said the plan is for him is to pitch there. We’ll kind of figure out when. A lot is contingent on the unknown, how he responds to spring training and his buildup.”
Roberts said Sasaki could theoretically pitch in one of the Dodgers’ exhibition games in Tokyo ahead of the opener.
“Everything’s on the table, but I think it’s fair to say it would be to pitch in the second game of the season,” Roberts said. “But if it doesn’t line up, then it doesn’t line up.”
Sasaki, a 23-year-old right-hander whose fastball tops 100 mph, threw a bullpen session surrounded by much of the coaching staff. He was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games last year for the Pacific League’s Chiba Lotte Mariners, striking out 129 in 111 innings during a season limited by shoulder inflammation.
“We want to make sure he’s in a good position and feels good when he pitches,” Roberts said. “I don’t want to put him in a box right now.”
The 26-year-old Yamamoto was 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA over 18 starts for the Dodgers last year in his first MLB season.
