Day 1 of Cubs camp in Arizona brought about some breaking news: Shota Imanaga will pitch during the Tokyo Series in Japan.

OK fine, that isn’t exactly earth-shattering news.

In fact, there may not be a single person on the planet that is even remotely surprised by that news.

[WATCH: Craig Counsell addresses the media ahead of 2025 Cubs camp]

Even if the Cubs had a typical regular season schedule, Imanaga would have had a strong chance to start Opening Day after a phenomenal rookie season.

But now that the Cubs open the 2025 regular season slate with a pair of games against the Dodgers in Tokyo, it became a no-brainer that the Japanese southpaw would take the mound in one of those contests.

“Shota’s gonna pitch in Japan,” Craig Counsell confirmed Sunday.

As the Cubs manager continued, a smile crept across his face and had some fun with the topic.

“I think that’s mandated, kind of,” he deadpanned. “I don’t think I have a choice, actually.”

Before Counsell addressed the media, Jed Hoyer was a bit more coy with Imanaga’s status.

“Provided everything is on schedule, I’m quite sure he’ll be pitching over there,” a smiling Hoyer said. “What game, I don’t know, but certainly I know the fans in Japan will be excited to see him.”

After a very successful career in Japan, Imanaga chose to take his talents to the U.S. and flourished as a rookie with the Cubs.

He went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 1.02 WHIP while posting 3.0 WAR and earning a trip to the All-Star Game. Imanaga also finished 5th in NL Cy Young voting and 4th in Rookie of the Year voting.

Justin Steele started Opening Day for the Cubs last season but got hurt in that same game and missed the next month.

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It was Imanaga who stepped up as the ace of the staff and entering Year 2 in Chicago, the 31-year-old will form a dynamic 1-2 punch with Steele.

“Couldn’t be more excited that he’s back for Year 2,” Hoyer said of Imanaga. “Year 1 was as impressive as anything I’ve watched from a pitcher making an assimilation.”

Because of the Tokyo Series, the Cubs actually begin the 2025 regular season on March 18 — a full 10 days earlier than when they began the 2024 campaign.

That throws a bit of a wrench in the build-up for players — particularly pitchers — in spring training, but the Cubs have been preparing for this all offseason.

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“We know the date, so we’re gonna prepare,” Counsell said. “We know when the test is, right? It should be pretty easy for us to prepare for it.

“It’s gonna be an incredible trip. It’s gonna be an incredible cultural trip for us, it’s an incredible team-building trip for us and it’s an incredible baseball experience for our guys. In all measures, we are fortunate that we get to do this trip.

“Looking ahead to that makes the preparation really enjoyable. That’s how we’re seeing it and how we’ve talked about it already with the group is that it’s a wonderful opportunity.”