MLB Major League Baseball Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced on March 14 that Japanese right-hand shooting duo Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki will start the first and second games of the Tokyo Series respectively. The first game will be against the Cubs Shota Imanaga on March 18, and the second game will be played on March 19 against Justin Steele Sasaki in the big league.

Yushin Yamamoto: The road to redemption for a historic contract pitcher

Yushin Yamamoto, who holds the largest pitching contract in MLB baseball history for 12 years and $325 million, missed nearly three months due to injury in his rookie year, but still handed in 18 games with a starting ERA of 3.00. Although he suffered a setback in the playoffs, he completed his redemption in the fifth game of the National League Division against Darby Shuyu (Padres) in the "Daily Matchup", and finally helped the Dodgers win the eighth championship in team history. This will be the first time in his career that he will be the opener in Tokyo. In last year's Seoul Series, Yamamoto made a starting pitch on the board in the second game.

Ronki Sasaki: Reiwa Monster's cross-sea debut

Ronki Sasaki, who switched from Chiba Rhodes Ocean to Dodge through the entry system, has accumulated 29 wins and 15 losses, a 2.10 self-blame rate, and 505 strikeouts in 394.2 innings. During spring training, the 23-year-old fireball man made a splash with his bullpen practice throwing — yellow gloves paired with a 100-mile-per-hour speedball and a weird knuckle that made catcher Austin Barnes exclaim, "Oh my God! The trajectory of this finger fork ball has never been seen before, and it is completely different from Yamamoto's, and it is difficult to pick it up! Sasaki admits that his first cowpen training was "not at his best due to nervousness and cold," but that it was "a great honor to be a rookie" to be able to start a major league career on his native soil.

Pre-game warm-up and media storms

Ahead of the Tokyo Series, Dodge will face the Yomiuri Giants (19:00 local time) and Hanshin Tigers (12:00 local time) at Tokyo Dome on March 16 for a final run-in. Despite the attention of Shohei Ohtani's return as a second-class player, Sasaki's every pitch still attracted dozens of media outlets, and his bright yellow gloves and ball path took center stage.

With the lights of Tokyo Dome about to be lit up, this pitching duel across the Pacific Ocean is not only a personal glory, but also a brilliant intersection of Japanese and American baseball cultures.