Here’s our marquee series, the big names at the top of the music festival poster. After officially commencing the 2025 season with their two-game Tokyo tilt, the Dodgers and Cubs bring it back to LA for a three-game meeting.
How to watch Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers
Viewing guide
Los Angeles throws out an intimidating pair of firearms this weekend. Righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto comes into Friday with a 1.69 ERA, and he has given up just three earned runs in his first three starts. Yamamoto held this Cubs lineup to a singular score through five innings of Tokyo work on March 18. Right-hander Roki Sasaki gets the ball Saturday night, though he hasn’t lasted more than four innings in any of his three starts. Like Yamamoto, he also faced Chicago in that overseas series; he allowed one run on one hit in three innings but was done in by five walks.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the 10-4 Dodgers are a wagon at the plate and beasts in the box. Superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts are both over .300. Outfielders Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández have five HR apiece. First baseman Freddie Freeman is set to return Friday from an ankle sprain. Even Enrique Hernández and Will Smith are mashing the covering off the ball. What can you possibly do against this lineup?
The Cubs can’t be thrilled about such a stacked opponent, but 2025 has been good to them thus far. They took two of three from Texas to jostle atop the NL Central at 9-6. Chicago has MLB’s second-ranked scoring offense, trailing only the incendiary Yankees through 15 games. The Cubs are fourth in homers and third in OBP, but also first in runners left on base. Kyle Tucker has 16 RBI in his first 15 Cubs appearances, slapping a ridiculous .322/.452/.678 line. There’s a lot of baseball to play, but if Tucker can stay healthy (he played in 78 games with last year’s Astros), he should be somewhere in the MVP orbit. Shortstop Dansby Swanson and OF/DH Seiya Suzuki have four moonshots each.
LA held Chicago to four runs in those two Tokyo contests. The offense has since erupted with three double-digit scoring road games.
Notable players to wear both jerseys in the last 10 years:
- Justin Turner (on the Cubs now!)
- Cody Bellinger
- Joc Pederson
- Craig Kimbrel
- Yu Darvish
- Jason Heyward
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(Photo of Shohei Ohtani and Dansby Swanson: Philip Fong / AFP via Getty Images)
