Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer predicted Shohei Ohtani would be aggressive out of the gate against countryman Shota Imanaga in the 2025 MLB Tokyo Series.

“I’m expecting a swing, I’m not going to lie,” Hoyer told reporters Tuesday before the Cubs’ Opening Day meeting with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome.

Well, Hoyer was wrong — but he’ll take the result anyway.

Ohtani took the first pitch of the game, a 93-mph fastball, for a strike at the top of the zone, and grounded out to Cubs second baseman Jon Berti two pitches later in a much anticipated first at-bat of the season.

“I was texting some friends earlier, I was like, it feels like a playoff environment, which is awesome,” Hoyer said. “Those are the butterflies you want, and that’s the energy that you want. There’s no feeling like the postseason when everyone’s hanging on every pitch.

“I have a feeling that that’s going to feel this way.”

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Hoyer was right. Ohtani received a massive ovation when he was introduced before the game. The Dodgers superstar has been everywhere in Tokyo — on posters and signage — and his presence was much anticipated by his home country. Even his swing on the groundout elicited excitement from the fans.

Imanaga, who made his first Opening Day start, faced Ohtani for the sixth time in the major leagues. Ohtani was 0-for-5 with a strikeout against the Cubs lefty last season.

The Opening Day contest had other baseball history. Imanaga was opposite Yoshinobu Yamamoto, marking the first matchup of Japanese-born starting pitchers in an Opening Day game and the first matchup of Japanese-born pitchers in a regular-season game at the Tokyo Dome.