Regular-season MLB baseball is officially back on the menu, with a twist. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs face off overseas in the Tokyo Series, which rings in the beginning of the 2025 regular season ahead of Opening Day later this month.
Since the game is played during the evening in Japan, United States-based fans will have to be up early to catch this one. First pitch is slated for 6 a.m. EST on March 17.
Best Yoshinobu Yamamoto prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
The reigning World Series champions kick off their season with this Tokyo Series duel, the first game of which should be a special one for the Dodgers’ starter. Yamamoto saw 90 innings of work last season for Los Angeles and tallied a 3.00 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP in his 18 appearances. While he spent significant time sidelined due to injury, he now looks to build on that campaign as he kicks off the new season in front of his home nation.
I do like Yamamoto to go over 5.5 strikeouts in this game at +100 odds. While the 26-year-old didn’t have a spectacular spring training, posting a 4.15 ERA and allowing 15 hits in 13 innings of work, he did still strike out 14 batters in that span. We’ll chase the plus-odds here, even against an improved Cubs lineup which most notably added Kyle Tucker to the top third of the batting order over the winter.
However, Yamamoto’s limited sample through spring training implies that he’s probably not in peak form yet. With that in mind, it could also be worth checking out his over/under on hits allowed at 3.5. The under sits at -105, but the over feels a lot more likely at -135 odds. Over 3.5 hits allowed is not flashy value, but it’s probably a safer play than taking the over on strikeouts mentioned above.
