5 storylines to watch at Tokyo Series

The Tokyo Series is exactly one month away -- and there are already plenty of reasons to be excited about the 2025 season-opening showdown between the reigning World Series champion Dodgers and the Cubs.

With those two storied franchises set to open the season on March 18 at the Tokyo Dome, let¡¯s take a look at five major storylines that have us counting down the days.

What will Ohtani do next?

Shohei Ohtani is coming off a 2024 season in which he became the first 50-50 player in MLB history, won his third MVP Award and took home his first World Series title ... so what could he possibly have in store for an encore in 2025?

Ohtani won't be making his long-awaited return to the mound in front of the Japanese faithful, but he will certainly be in the lineup as the Dodgers' designated hitter -- and every Ohtani at-bat has become must-see at this point.

And while Ohtani won't be ready to pitch, fellow countryman Shota Imanaga will start Opening Day for Chicago. Ohtani will be looking for some revenge after going 0-for-5 with a strikeout against Imanaga last season.

Imanaga was just about the only Cubs pitcher to have any success last year against Ohtani, who went 10-for-20 (.500) with two homers and six RBIs against Chicago pitchers not named Imanaga.

Players returning to Japan

Speaking of Imanaga, it's possible we get an Imanaga vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto showdown on Opening Day, with Roki Sasaki expected to start for L.A. in the second game.

Imanaga, as previously noted, will be starting Game 1 for the Cubs. In the other dugout, Yamamoto is in line to start the opener for L.A. after a strong rookie campaign.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said recently that his plan is to have Yamamoto and Sasaki start the two games in Tokyo, but the club wants to see how Sasaki responds to Spring Training before penciling him into a specific start.

That would make for quite the Opening Day showdown in Tokyo between Imanaga and Yamamoto -- and the pitching storylines would keep coming if Sasaki makes his MLB debut the following day. The 23-year-old phenom had a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in 394 2/3 innings over his four seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Along with the trio of Japanese pitchers set to take the mound, both Ohtani and Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki will be returning to where their careers started -- and figure to garner plenty of praise from the hometown fans.

Dodgers begin title defense

Fresh off winning its second World Series in the past five seasons, Los Angeles is largely running it back in 2025.

It returns a top of the lineup featuring Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Max Muncy and Will Smith. The rotation is once again stacked with newcomers Sasaki and Blake Snell joining returning starters Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May -- not to mention the eventual return of Ohtani to the mound.

The Dodgers certainly have the pieces to make another run, but it's not easy to repeat. No team has won consecutive World Series titles since the Yankees won back-to-back-to-back championships from 1998-2000.

The Cubs, meanwhile, are looking to build off consecutive 83-win seasons and second-place finishes in the NL Central. They are hoping to return to the postseason for the first time since 2020 -- and win their first postseason game since 2017.

Highly anticipated team debuts

Outfielder Kyle Tucker will look to put on a show in his Cubs debut after being acquired from the Astros in December.

A three-time All-Star and 2022 World Series champion with Houston, Tucker hit 23 home runs last season despite being limited to just 78 games. Over the past four seasons, Tucker's 162-game averages are 35 home runs, 111 RBIs and 25 stolen bases.

Some of Tucker's first at-bats as a Cub could potentially come against the aforementioned Sasaki or Snell. The 32-year-old Snell signed a five-year, $182 million deal with the Dodgers in November after spending last season with the rival Giants -- and the previous three years with another NL West rival in the Padres.

Of course, it's no guarantee Snell pitches in one of those first two games given Los Angeles' current plan to start Yamamoto and Sasaki.

Who will play third base for the Cubs?

That Tucker trade involved Chicago sending Isaac Paredes -- its expected starting third baseman -- to Houston. That role remains up for grabs at this point, but there is an intriguing in-house option.

The Cubs could go with Matt Shaw, their top prospect and the No. 19 prospect overall, per MLB Pipeline. The 13th overall pick in the 2023 Draft split last season between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, racking up 21 homers and 31 stolen bases across 121 games -- though he actually performed better following his promotion. Shaw slashed .298/.395/.534 (.929 OPS) with seven homers and six stolen bases in 35 games at Triple-A.

Shaw's path to the Opening Day job cleared up a bit when veteran third baseman Alex Bregman ultimately decided to sign with the Red Sox over the Cubs and other suitors. Shaw was among those following Bregman's free agency closely -- and now, the 23-year-old prospect is ready to seize his opportunity.

"Obviously, that¡¯s my goal for this spring," Shaw said. "Being able to do that would be amazing. It¡¯d be a dream come true -- something I've been dreaming of for a long time."