Blake Snell gives first thoughts on Tokyo & seeing Shohei Ohtani's popularity ahead of Dodgers-Cubs showdown in MLB Japan Series

Blake Snell and the Los Angeles Dodgers are kicking off the season in Japan as they are playing in the MLB Tokyo Series 2025. Snell joined the Dodgers this offseason on a five-year, $182 million deal, as per Spotrac, and he is expected to be one of the key pieces in the starting rotation.

Meeting with the press is an important part of the job for MLB players, and Blake Snell got introduced to Japanese reporters ahead of the games. In a video posted by SportsNet LA, Snell was first asked about the city of Tokyo before getting into some baseball questions. He said:

"Walking around, it's very clean, a very beautiful city. I was aware of that, but even going out, I've been going out everyday so seeing that has been pretty shocking seeing how beautiful the city is."

Snell was also asked about the popularity of Shohei Ohtani by a Japanese reporter, and managed to sneak in a joke with his answer:

"There is a lot of love for Shohei here, it's pretty apparent, so I was making a joke of it, "Like, Oh I know him.'"

After the questions shifted to English, Snell was asked about how excited he was to be able to make a start in the Tokyo Series. Not only is Snell excited about getting to explore Japan, but he's aware that the game will bring new opportunities as well:

"I'm really excited to learn new hitters, I've never seen them and know nothing about them. I'm excited about that. Excited to play in a dome, just going out there and seeing like turf and how the field is laid out, it's different, so I'm excited to see what that feels like as well."

Blake Snell explains being shocked after Giants failed to offer contract during free agency

Blake Snell had many suitors during free agency at the end of the 2024 season, and ultimately chose the Los Angeles Dodgers. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Snell explained that he was shocked that he didn't at least get an offer from the San Francisco Giants:

"I know Bob Melvin loves me, and I’m really close with Logan Webb and Matt Chapman. So I was shocked. I thought they’d come after me right away. I really liked it there. I was happy there. But they never even said anything to me,"

Blake Snell ultimately wanted to join the defending World Series champs, and it gave him this opportunity to take in the beauty of Tokyo.