The first pitch of the 2024 Major League Baseball season is Tuesday morning at 6:10AM Eastern as the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs open the season in Japan.
The Dodgers are overwhelming favorite to win a second consecutive World Series title this fall (+240) while the Cubs sit further down the board (+3000).
The offseason for LA included signing the top pitcher in Japan, Roki Sasaki, 2-time CY Young winner Blake Snell, and relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates. They have reloaded to say the least.
The Cubs were aggressive in the offseason as well highlighted by their acquisition of outfielder Kyle Tucker and closer Ryan Pressley from Houston.
Tuesday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is slated to take the mound for Los Angeles against Shota Imanaga for Chicago.
Imanaga was 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA with 174 strikeouts in 29 starts last season for the Cubs.
Yamamoto was 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA including 105 strikeouts in 18 starts for the Dodgers
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Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Game details & how to watch Dodgers at Cubs
- Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025
- Time: 6:10AM EST
- Site: Tokyo Dome
- City: Tokyo, Japan
- Network/Streaming: FOX
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Odds for the Dodgers at the Cubs
The latest odds as of Monday:
- Moneyline: Dodgers (-160), Cubs (+135)
- Spread: Dodgers -1.5 (+100)
- Total: 8.5 runs
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Probable starting pitchers for Dodgers at Cubs
- Tuesday’s pitching matchup: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Shota Imanaga
- Dodgers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
2024: 90 IP, 18GP, 18GS, 7-2, 3.00 ERA, 78 Hits Allowed, 30 Earned Runs, 105 Ks, 22 BBs - Cubs: Shota Imanaga
2024: 173.1 IP, 29GP, 29 GS, 15-3, 2.91 ERA, 149 Hits Allowed, 56 Earned Runs, 174 Ks, 28 BBs
- Dodgers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
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Expert picks & predictions for Tuesday’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs
NBC Sports Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Tuesday’s game between the Dodgers and the Cubs:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Dodgers on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Dodgers at -1.5.
- Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the OVER on the Game Total of 8.5.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
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