This year, Major League Baseball begins the typical time in South Korea for the first time, expanding its reach beyond that country. Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will play two regular-season activities on the other side of the world to renew their 55-year conflict.
At the 16, 744-seat Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, the Dodgers did debut their$ 1.025 billion worth of fresh Chinese people, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and cup Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Yu Darvish, another Chinese teammate, is scheduled to start the opening for the Padres Wednesday at 6: 30 a. m. ET against the Dodgers ‘ Tyler Glasnow. In Game 2 against Joe Musgrove in San Diego, Yamamoto will render his Major League debut at the same time on Thursday.

” Logistically it’s not perfect, but it’s unique and fun for everyone”, Dodgers director Dave Roberts said, referring to the 14- hours trip over and then backwards. ” I really believe our men are anticipating it,” he said.
For Padres bowler Ha- sung Kim, it’s a reunion. Before signing a four-year,$ 28 million deal with San Diego prior to the 2021 season, the South Korean-born Kim spent his initial seven expert seasons in Korea.
” It’s a special time for me to play in my house state”, Kim said this week. Because I spent five years there, it’s even more specific to play in the Gocheok Sky Dome.
MLB has long been on this worldwide record, but that was derailed by the crisis. All global events were canceled for the 2020 and 2021 conditions.
MLB made a comeback last year with World Baseball Classic games played all over the world and the postponement of a postponed two-game regular-season line between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals in London’s Olympic Stadium.
MLB has previously played preseason game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox in the Dominican Republic this time. Just before the various 28 team begin the regular season, the New York Yankees will play the Diablos Rojos in Mexico City in exhibition matches on March 24 and 25.
The Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies will even play at the Estadio Alfredo Harp Hel in Mexico City on April 27 and 28 for the first time during the normal time. Additionally, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will play in the second London Series on June 8 and 9.
MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball counterparts are also discussing starting the 2025 MLB winter at Tokyo Dome, where the league seasons have started five days.
MLB has even recently played regular- season games three times in Monterrey, Mexico, again in Sydney, Australia, and once in Mexico City, totaling 35 worldwide regular- season games through the end of this year.
In an interview last week before the group left for South Korea, Dodgers senior right catcher Jason Heyward said,” It’s great to be growing ball this, and all activities for that matter. ” It’s great to provide people around the world an upwards- close look and perspective”.

In all, the Dodgers have spent$ 1.09 billion on nine free agents this season only. Glasnow was likewise traded for by them for$ 136.5 million, and they later agreed to a five-year,$ 136.5 million contract.
The Padres have gone the other way, shaving more than$ 100 million off their team- report$ 256 million 2023 payment. Kim is a pending completely agent. They moved him from following basic up to bowler this flower, flipping him with Xander Bogaerts, who’s signed through 2033 on an 11- year,$ 280 million contract. Kim was uninterested in 2022 due to Fernando Tatis Jr.’s absence from the team and prior to the Padres signing Bogaerts.
Last week, the Dodgers flipped Mookie Betts to short and Gavin Lux to second. Lux could play a more well-known position thanks to the choice. Betts said he can play anywhere.
” The more baseball we play, I expect them both to get better”, Roberts said.
Expect Ohtani to shine in Seoul. The Dodgers signed him to a 10-year,$ 700 million deal after winning the Ohtani free agent sweepstakes, with the majority of the money being postponed. He said he feels at home in Dodger blue after playing for the Los Angeles Angels for six years.
At a press conference Saturday at the Seoul stadium, Ohtani, along with teammates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, expressed appreciation for all the attention received through an interpreter. I still need to be a member of the team. I want to demonstrate to everyone that I am a Dodger at the moment.
Ohtani, who has a normally two-way right elbow, will not play for the team this year because of his recovery from surgery last year. He claims in a conversation last week that he has seen significant improvement since the operation and that he is rehabbing the elbow at the same time as he is working on his hitting. The reigning American League MVP has n’t had a little slack in his hitting. He batted .500 with two homers and nine RBIs this spring.
Yamamoto followed Ohtani to the Dodgers by signing a 12- year,$ 325 million free agent contract after his Japanese team, the Orix Buffaloes, posted him. In a complicated posting equation, the Dodgers also had to pay Orix$ 50.7 million.
Yamamoto stated last week that the Dodgers beat the Yankees and the New York Mets because” the Dodgers have been on a great run the last 11 years.”
The Dodgers have won the National League West 10 times in the past 11 seasons, losing by just a game in 2021 to the San Francisco Giants. They’ve only won the World Series once, in 2020, during that period.
Yamamoto has had marginal spring numbers with an 8.38 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings. However, Ohtani’s first Tommy John operation was a terrible spring for the Angels in 2018. He first came over from Japan with a Grade 1 tear of the ulnar ligament in his right elbow, which ultimately led to his first season of service.
” Next game is a real game”, Yamamoto said through his own interpreter. ” My preparation has been good,” I said. I’ve had enough time to get myself ready”.