This weekend at Wrigley Field represents a big test for the 2024 Cubs and could be an early preview of a playoff series in six months.

But even more than that, the 3-game set between the Cubs and the Dodgers carries weight that stretches well beyond Chicago and Los Angeles. It will be a packed house at the corner of Clark and Addison all weekend long with millions more baseball fans tuning in on TV from around the world.

[Catch Cubs-Dodgers on Marquee Sports Network all weekend long]

The Cubs and Dodgers each have two Japanese stars on their roster and all four players are set to appear this weekend. Seiya Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani are each hitting second for their respective teams in Friday’s opener while Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Saturday for L.A. and Shota Imanaga takes the ball Sunday for the Cubs.

“We’ll see all of them this series — that’s certainly fun,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before Friday’s game. “It feels like the Japanese player is starting to make a bigger impact in a series like this in our game.

“And then you see it and it’s fun to watch. It’s the great players around the world competing on the same field. That’s awesome.”

This is Ohtani’s first time playing at Wrigley Field. The Dodgers committed over $1 billion combined to him and Yamamoto this past offseason, elevating expectations around the franchise even more.

Ohtani showed his incredible skillset in Game 1 Friday with an opposite field double and a homer that carved through the wind. Despite that, the Cubs still scratched out a 9-7 victory behind 3 RBI from Suzuki.

While Yamamoto got most of the headlines this winter coming over to Major League Baseball from Japan, Imanaga had a nice career of his own during his 8-year stint in NPB. Imanaga said he has talked with Yamamoto often since both pitchers came to the U.S. over the winter.

In his debut Monday, Imanaga was dominant with 9 strikeouts in 6 shutout innings, though now he’ll be tasked with facing a Murderer’s Row of Mookie Betts, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in one of the best 1-2-3 punches in MLB history.

“Because Ohtani is a star in Japan, pretty much every day they have coverage about him,” Imanaga said through translator Edwin Stanberry. “So if I can be on TV for a little bit, that’ll be great.”

Suzuki has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball during the first week, picking up where he left off late last season and throughout Spring Training.

He has 11 RBI and 4 extra-base hits (including 2 homers) in 7 games, posting a .345 average and 1.015 OPS.

He is always looking to get better and views this weekend as a nice learning experience.

“Obviously there’s a lot of things you can learn when you play a good team like the Dodgers,” Suzuki said through translator Toy Matsushita. “And not just Shohei himself, but there’s a lot of good players on that team. Excited but just trying to learn from everyone.”

That holds true for the Cubs, as well. The Dodgers have become the class of the National League with 11 straight postseason appearances. They’ve also made it to the NLCS 6 times during that stretch, including 3 straight from 2016-18.

They’re out to a hot start to 2024 as well, with a 7-2 record entering the weekend at Wrigley.

“This is a fun series,” Counsell said. “You get to challenge yourself against a good team. … So that’s fun, but it’s 3 games. You play 3 games and then the next day’s game is the biggest game.”