Ricky Dimon
To say that the 2025 Major League Baseball season opened in style for me would be a gross understatement. My +481 Same Game Parlay for the first installment of the Tokyo Series was a winner, as the Los Angeles Dodgers covered a -1.5 run line against the Chicago Cubs, Tommy Edman got a hit and Teoscar Hernandez both scored and drove in a run.
Now it’s time to run it back for Wednesday’s rematch in the Tokyo, which is set for 6:10 am and televised on FS1. Also be sure to check out our full Dodgers vs Cubs predictions.
Dodgers -1.5 (+108)
Over 7.5 (-122)
Tommy Edman to record an RBI (+190)
Tommy Edman to score a run (+105)
Parlay odds: +632
Part of the value in a Same Game Parlay, of course, is that all of its components can be correlated if you so choose. That is the entire plan here, as Tommy Edman doing plenty of damage would obviously work well with a Dodgers cover and the over. Let’s break down all of the SGP legs.
Dodgers -1.5 (+108)
Los Angeles won it all in 2024 and it is even better on paper heading into this season. Manager Dave Roberts’ club added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to bolster the pitching staff, while Shohei Ohtani will be able to pitch in 2025 after only hitting last year due to an elbow injury. On the hitting side of things, the Dodgers re-signed Teoscar Hernandez and brought in Michael Conforto to a deal. Unsurprisingly, L.A.’s World Series title defense got off to a strong start with a 4-1 victory over Chicago on Tuesday. Speaking of Sasaki, he will toe the rubber for Wednesday’s series finale. The 23-year-old right-hander played 4 seasons of professional baseball at home in Japan, most recently going 7-4 with a 1.78 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 91.0 innings during the 2023 campaign and compiling metrics of 10-5, 2.35, 121 Ks/111.0 innings in 2024. The Cubs are countering with Justin Steele, who took a step back last year following his brilliant 2023 season (in part because of physical problems). All signs point to the Dodgers picking up another victory in game 2.
Over 7.5 (-122)
Following a low-scoring affair on Tuesday, don’t be surprised if the bats wake up on the second time of asking. In last year’s Tokyo Series, the Dodgers and San Diego Padres played to a 5-2 result in the opener before the offenses erupted with a combined 26 runs in the next game. I’m not expecting another 26-run barrage this time around, but asking Los Angeles and Chicago to put at least 8 runs on the board between the 2 of them should not be too much to ask. There is a decent mount of pressure on Sasaki making his MLB debut and Steele can’t be expected to stymie the one of the best lineups in baseball. It should also be noted that Freddie Freeman should be able to take the field for this one after missing Tuesday’s contest with a rib issue.
Tommy Edman to score a run (+105) and record an RBI (+190)
Edman was productive last season after joining Los Angeles in August. He earned NLCS MVP honors and also came up with some timely hitting in the World Series. Edman came up big in Tuesday’s SGP by getting a base knock and now I’m counting on him to an event greater extent in the form of a run scored and an RBI. There is no reason why he can’t make it happen. He has Ohtani batting in front of him and presumably Freeman behind him in the lineup. Edman is the Dodgers’ current leader in all-time hits against Steele, with 4 in 10 at-bats.
