The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs battle in the first game of the Tokyo Series on Tuesday, March 18, at the Tokyo Dome. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:10 a.m. ET; the game will be broadcast on FOX.
Fresh off a convincing World Series championship run, the Dodgers enter the 2025 season with a historically strong roster featuring three Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Tuesday's starting pitcher), and Roki Sasaki — they will undoubtedly be keen to put on a show with the rare opportunity to play on home soil in this matchup.
Find my Dodgers vs Cubs parlay picks for Tuesday below.
Dodgers vs Cubs MLB Parlay — 3/18
- Cubs Moneyline (+130)
- Pete Crow-Armstrong Over 0.5 hits (-135)
- Kyle Tucker Over 1.5 Total Bases (+130)
Parlay Odds: +535 (FanDuel)
Remember to bet responsibly — this is a long shot for a reason.
Cubs Moneyline (+130)
Los Angeles is heavily favored as a team that could potentially be irritatingly dominant looks to kick off the season with a win. While the Dodgers are more likely to win this game than not, they do look to be slightly overvalued at -162, and backing the Cubs to win correlates well with the other two legs of my parlay.
The Dodgers had a wRC+ of 123 in the second half of last season and hit to a wRC+ of 121 versus left-handed pitching over the entirety of the season. While the Dodgers' lineup should be comparably dominant in 2025, the Cubs will catch a big break as Mookie Betts will miss this series due to illness.
In the second half of last season, the Cubs had a wRC+ of 107 while playing with a healthier roster, and they should be comparably effective this year. Kyle Tucker could prove to be a massive addition to bolster the heart of the lineup, while players such as Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw could outperform offensive expectations.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto certainly provides a tough matchup, but the Cubs should prove to be quite effective versus right-handed pitchers this season. Six batters in the Cubs lineup held wRC+ ratings of over 100 versus righties last season, led by Tucker and Suzuki, who held wRC+ ratings of 139 and 202 versus righties, respectively.
Shota Imanaga's level fell off to some extent in the second half of last season, but he still projects to be among the top 30 pitchers in MLB this season. He held a Pitching+ rating of 106 and finished with an xERA of 3.34, compared to Yamamoto's mark of 3.44.
While it did appear as though batters saw Imanaga more effectively in the second half, his 111 Location+ rating and 107 Pitching+ rating were slight improvements on the rest of the campaign.
Pete Crow-Amstrong Over 0.5 Hits (-135)
"PCA" is not likely to be among the Cubs' most productive batters this season, but he could become more than a player who is in the lineup simply because of his elite defensive play in center field.
