Los Angeles Dodgers star player Mookie Betts (32) has been ruled out for the Tokyo Series to start the season after coming down with an illness, according to manager Dave Roberts.
The Tokyo Series, which kickstarts the 2025 MLB season, will take place on March 18th and March 19th (6:00 a.m. Eastern time) against the Chicago Cubs.
Both teams will resume their spring training schedules following the two-game series.
Los Angeles is coming off a 3-0 exhibition loss to the Hanshin Tigers, a Nippon Professional team from the Central League.
Japanese pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Shota Imanaga (Chicago Cubs) will both be the starters for the first matchup of the series.
The series has received a lot of standout hype since being announced.
Both teams received Japanese merchandise along with a collaboration video with the highly popular anime series Demon Slayer.