The Los Angeles Dodgers will begin Major League Baseball's regular season in less than a month's time when they take on the San Diego Padres in a two-game set in Seoul, South Korea on March 20-21. While things can change between now and then, the Dodgers could use those games to showcase most of their star offseason additions.
Manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Tuesday that right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow are on schedule to start those contests.
"This is a unique ramp-up for everyone," Roberts said during the Cactus League's media availability day, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez. "It's two games that matter, but it's just two games. So the entirety of the season and making sure these guys are ready to take down starts -- that's most important."
Yamamoto, of course, would be making his MLB debut after signing a 12-year pact worth $325 million during the offseason. He is, without question, the most accomplished active pitcher in the world to have not appeared in a MLB contest. During his time in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, Yamamoto won three consecutive Most Valuable Player and Eiji Sawamura (think NPB's Cy Young equivalent) Awards.
Glasnow is no stranger to starting MLB games, having done so 88 times throughout his career. His next start, however, will mark his first as a Dodger. Los Angeles acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays as part of a larger trade this winter, then signed him to a five-year extension worth more than $136 million ahead of what would have been his walk year.
Yamamoto and Glasnow are expected to front a rotation that has undergone much change since the last time the Dodgers took the field. Come Opening Day, it's likely they'll be surrounded by Bobby Miller, veteran James Paxton, and a homegrown arm, such as Emmet Sheehan or Gavin Stone.
As for the Dodgers' biggest offseason addition, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, he remains on track to make his Dodgers debut in Seoul. Ohtani will be limited to DH duty this season after undergoing elbow surgery last year.
