GRAND OPENING
Glasnow will start Dodgers' first game in South Korea, Yamamoto gets second
The pitching matchups for the first regularseason MLB games in South Korea were announced on Monday. And they are expensive.
The Dodgers will start righthander Tyler Glasnow in the first game on March 20 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the second game against the San Diego Padres on March 21. Glasnow signed a five-year, $136.5 million contract extension after the Dodgers acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays in December. Yamamoto signed a record 12-year, $325 million deal in December despite not having pitched in the majors yet.
The Dodgers' Seoul-mates, the Padres, will start Yu Darvish in the first game and Joe Musgrove in the second. Darvish and Musgrove each signed contract extensions with the Padres in the past two years for $108 million and $100 million, respectively.
“It means everything,” Glasnow said of being selected to front the Dodgers' rebuilt starting rotation. “Just to sign here, that all being a reality feels crazy. Then when they told me I was the Opening Day starter, I definitely felt a lot of pride and excitement.”
It will be Glasnow's second Opening Day start. He also started the 2021 opener for the Rays.
“First off, we feel both guys are top-end guys,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But if you look at the schedule for Yoshinobu going out, it sets up more for potential days of rest.”
Yamamoto pitched just once a week throughout his career in Japan and has been on that same schedule this spring. He will make his third Cactus League start on Wednesday — his third consecutive Wednesday start.
“They are supporting me for me to maintain my regular routine from Japan and they're giving me enough space to do that,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter.
“I'm having kind of a `Cloud Nine' feeling. This is the first time they're having opening games in Korea so I'm looking forward to performing at my best for Korean fans.”
The Dodgers will have six days off between the Seoul Series and their home opener on March 28. Roberts said Glasnow and Yamamoto will most likely repeat as the 1-2 starters for that series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I'm not the most sentimental person,” said Glasnow, a Santa Clarita native, of pitching the opener at Dodger Stadium. “I think I'll try — I don't like try to block it out but I'm very much like, `I've got a job to do. I'm here to pitch.' I think my answer may be a different a few years later if you ask me. It'll be, “What was that all about? How'd that feel?' But right now, it's like a normal season I've got to go pitch. It's obviously different but if I keep it similar, keep it the same, I usually respond to it.” Moving over
Speaking to the media for the first time since the Dodgers announced Mookie Betts would be replacing him at shortstop, Gavin Lux said the series of misfired throws that prompted the change were not a product of “a throwing issue” but the result of rust from not playing for so long.
“I just haven't played defense in a game since October 2022 ... it's more about that than anything,” Lux said. “It's tough to replicate a game rep if you don't play in games.
“I think I just need to keep getting game reps. Like yesterday was fine. And I think just getting out there and continuing to play, it's knocking rust off more than anything. I don't think it's a throwing issue. I just need to keep going out
there and playing baseball.”
Being moved back to second base was certainly a blow to Lux's pride and ego, but he said that has to be put aside.
“Yeah, totally,” he said. “It doesn't do any good for anybody to sit and mope around. Like we talked about, me and Mookie are getting out there early every single day, turning double plays, talking through stuff together. I think it's that more than anything. There's no other option. We have to move forward. The ultimate goal is to win games.”
There have been fewer signs of rust on Lux's offensive game.
When Roberts announced the move to flip Betts and Lux, the Dodgers manager said options that would have left Betts at second and replaced Lux at shortstop with Miguel Rojas or Kiké Hernandez were dismissed because it would have taken Lux's bat out of the lineup.
Lux started Cactus League play 9 for 26 (.346).
“I feel great offensively,” he said. “I thought honestly that was going to be more of the knocking rust off, getting your timing back, seeing pitches and all that. But honestly I don't feel like I've skipped a beat too much on that. The Trajekt machine (a sophisticated pitching machine that simulates live at-bats) we have has helped a ton, just getting game at-bats with that and speeding that process up.”
Travel plans
Roberts said Bobby Miller will be one of the 31 players traveling to South Korea. Miller will pitch in one of the Dodgers' two exhibition games but won't be on the active roster for the games against the Padres.
Right-handers Gavin Stone and Michael Grove will also be on the travel roster for Korea and could pitch in multiinning roles out of the bullpen in those games. The two are competing to fill the fifth starter role until Walker Buehler returns sometime in May.
Left-hander James Paxton will not travel to Korea. He will stay in Arizona and continue building up for the season.