Shohei Ohtani rocks Decoy-stamped cleats in Tokyo Series opener against Cubs

Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers opened up the season against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo. It was a sight to see as the Tokyo Dome was packed to see the various Japanese stars suiting up for both teams.

Shota Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto both got the starts on the mound. Ohtani and Seiya Suzuki both stepped into the box, and Roki Sasaki will make his MLB debut in front of his home crowd in Game 2.

During Game 1, the cameras got a close-up look at Ohtani's special cleats. On the bottom of his New Balance cleats is his dog, Decoy.

Both cleats have Decoy stamped on the bottom of them. There is no denying that the three-time MVP thinks of his dog as his best friend.

This is not the first time that Ohtani has displayed his dog on his cleats. Last year, during Players' Weekend, Decoy was all over his cleats, with the Dodger shade of blue behind him.

Ohtani first introduced Decoy to the world after he won his second AL MVP award in 2023. Since then, he has been right next to the slugger's side.

Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers got things started off right

Los Angeles Dodgers - Shohei Ohtani (Photo via IMAGN)

Plenty of people packed the Tokyo Dome to see their hometown heroes in action. The atmosphere was intense as it officially kicked off the start of the 2025 MLB season.

Dodgers hitters had a problem getting to Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga. He had all of his pitches working and proved to be tough for anybody to get their barrel on his pitches.

He went four innings, giving up zero hits while striking out two batters. However, he did have four walks and was eventually pulled after 69 pitches.

After Imanaga departed, the L.A. offense finally woke up. Down a run, they had a big fifth inning, scoring three runs and taking the lead. They took the lead and did not look back.

Shohei Ohtani laced a double to start the ninth inning. Teoscar Hernandez would then drive in Ohtani to make the game 4-1. That would be the final score of the game as the Cubs could not muster anything up in the bottom half.

this was a great start for the Dodgers who were missing some key players. If they are this dominant without Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman then it will be interesting to see how they are with them.