MLB season begins Tuesday with Cubs, Dodgers in Tokyo

Major league baseball gets underway next week, but the first pitch will be thrown halfway around the world when the Dodgers and Cubs square off in Japan.

The Tokyo Series is the latest installment of the MLB World Tour, catering to the league’s global fan base with recent stops in Mexico, South Korea, England and the Dominican Republic. 

The Tokyo Dome, home of the Yomiuri Giants, will host both MLB games, plus four exhibition games. 

Both teams are well represented by Japanese players, led by arguably the biggest name worldwide in baseball, Shohei Othani. The Dodgers will also have Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. The newest Dodger, Roki Sasaki will also see pitching action.

The Cubs' opening day pitcher will be Shota Imanaga, with Seiya Suzuki also in the starting lineup.

Both games between the Dodgers and Cubs will be broadcast nationally, with FOX airing Game 1 on Tuesday and FS1 on Wednesday. Both games start at 5:10 a.m. Central Time.  

To warm up for the MLB openers, the Cubs will take on the Hanshin Tigers at 10 p.m. Friday, and the Yomiuri Giants at 5 a.m. Sunday. Both games will air on Marquee and MLB.TV.

The Dodgers will face the same teams in an extended double header Saturday at 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. 

This year is the 25th anniversary of the first MLB regular-season games played in Japan, when the Cubs and Mets met at the Tokyo Dome in 2000.