The Dodgers on Thursday set their 31-player travel roster for the Tokyo Series in Japan, which is the group of players who will be available to play for the team during their two exhibition games against Yomiuri and Hanshin.
Tuesday’s cuts after the Dodgers’ final Cactus League game set the stage for this travel roster, with Hyeseong Kim optioned and all four remaining position-player non-roster invitees sent to minor league camp. The 15 remaining position players on the 40-man roster are on the travel roster to Japan.
Similarly, a growing list of injuries limited the number of available pitchers. Just this week, it was revealed that Tony Gonsolin will start the season on the injured list with a back injury and Michael Grove having shoulder surgery that wiped out his 2025. Dustin May will be the fifth starter once the domestic portion of the regular season schedule begins, and he’ll stay behind at Camelback Ranch to continue to stretch out his innings.
Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell will start the Dodgers’ two exhibition games in Japan, which will leave them unavailable for the two regular season games against the Cubs on March 18-19. Once the Dodgers finalize their opening day roster, they need to cut down to 29 players, 26 of whom will be active against the Cubs. They are allowed three exempt players, who will almost certainly be Glasnow, Snell, and May.
Three non-roster invitees made the trip to Tokyo. Roki Sasaki, who was an NRI only in the technical sense because he was planned to be in the major league rotation from the get-go after signing with the Dodgers in January, will start the second game against the Cubs on March 19. Right-handed reliever Matt Sauer was informed that he was headed to Tokyo after his appearance last Friday night. Veteran right-hander Luis García, who began his career in the Dodgers organization before getting traded away, signed with Los Angeles on February 14, and made the trip as well.
Dodgers travel roster to Tokyo
Catchers (3): Will Smith, Austin Barnes, Hunter Feduccia
Designated hitter (1): Shohei Ohtani
Infielders (4): Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas
Outfielders (4): Teoscar Hernández, Michael Conforto, Andy Pages, James Outman
Infielder/outfielders (3): Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández, Chris Taylor
Starting pitchers (4): Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell
Right-handed relievers (7): Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates, Ben Casparius, Landon Knack, Matt Sauer, Luis García, Nick Frasso
Left-handed relievers (5): Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda, Jack Dreyer, Justin Wrobleski
AloJapan.com