Major League Baseball has played games in Japan for a while; the first real MLB games there were in 2000, played by the Mets and Cubs. Since then, more games have been played in Japan to help make baseball more international.

This year’s MLB season started off with the Cubs and Dodgers playing exhibition games against Japan’s best baseball team, a unique opportunity for most of the American ball players, because the style of Japan baseball is very different compared to the MLB. 

Cubs vs. Dodgers was a special way to begin the year, as it was the first time two Japanese pitchers faced each other on opening day; Shota Imanaga on the Cubs and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the Dodgers.

In the first game on March 18, the Cubs lost 4-1. Imanaga pitched well, not giving up a hit in four innings, but he walked four batters. The Cubs scored first when Miguel Amaya hit a double that brought home Dansby Swanson. But the Dodgers took the lead in the fifth inning with three runs, helped by a Cubs error and strong hitting. Shohei Ohtani had a good game for the Dodgers, going 2-for-5 with a double.

In the second game on March 19, the Cubs lost again, this time 6-3. Pitcher Justin Steele gave up five runs in four innings. Jon Berti had three hits for the Cubs, and Ian Happ had an RBI single, but it wasn’t enough. Ohtani hit a home run in this game too. 

Although the Cubs may not have won any of their games played in Japan, they did show a lot of promise, and appear to have a chance to make a playoff push this year.