The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs will do the honors of ringing in the 2025 MLB Season on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 a.m. ET.
The Dodgers are just five months removed from winning the World Series, and are projected to be even stronger this season after a busy offseason that saw them add Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott, Hyeseong Kim, and Michael Conforto.
The defending champs are a runaway +240 favorite to repeat ahead of Opening Day.
The Cubs finished 2024 five games above .500 and were in the mix for a wild-card spot for the lion’s share of the season.
Another step forward is expected on the North Side of Chicago, as the bookies have tagged the Cubbies with an Over/Under of 85.5 wins.
It should be a raucous atmosphere inside the Tokyo Dome as the Cubs and Dodgers have five Japanese players between them, including both starting pitchers Tuesday.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers are a -160 favorite over Shota Imanaga and the Cubs on Tuesday.
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Dodgers vs. Cubs odds
| Team | Run line | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dodgers | -1.5 (+110) | -160 | o8 (+100) |
| Cubs | +1.5 (-130) | +135 | u8 (-120) |
Cubs vs. Dodgers Prediction
The story of this game is the starting pitching matchup. Both Yamamoto and Imanaga enjoyed various degrees of success in their first MLB season.
Yamamoto was effective when he was healthy and was stellar in the World Series, while Imanaga finished inside the top five of both the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year voting.
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The Dodgers’ starter certainly has the easier assignment, as FanGraphs projects the Cubbies to be a middle-of-the-pack offense even after the addition of Kyle Tucker.
Los Angeles, which finished second in the MLB in runs per game last season and paced the circuit in OPS, is projected to score the most runs in the league in 2025.
Cubs vs. Dodgers Pick
It’s important to tread lightly in these situations.
Not only is it the first game of the season for both of these clubs, but they’re playing on the other side of the world in a very different environment than they’re used to seeing in the States.
It’s also likely that both pitchers will be on a short leash given their importance and the fact that this is their first start of the season, which throws in another wrinkle.
That should lead to more variance than usual in a sport that is already notoriously hard to project on a game-to-game basis.
Variance is never a bad thing for those looking to back the underdog, which is why we’ve landed on the Cubs in this one.
Pick: Cubs +135 (-110, bet365)
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Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.