Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto returns from IL for marquee pitching matchup vs. Cubs’ Shota Imanaga

LOS ANGELES – The Cubs drew a tough matchup Tuesday, as the Dodgers activated right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto from the 60-day injured list to make his first start in almost three months.

It just so happened that Shota Imanaga was set to take the mound for the Cubs, setting up a marquee showdown between a pair of rookies who transitioned from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball to MLB this year.

“They’ve traveled halfway around the world and are still competing against each other,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s pretty cool. So, I think it takes on a little extra for that reason, specifically.”

With Yamamoto back in action, this series serves as somewhat of a preview of the Tokyo Series next March. The Dodgers and Cubs, who already have four Japanese stars between them – Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki, Yamamoto and Imanaga – were chosen to face off in two early regular season games next March in Japan’s capital city.

Cubs left fielder Ian Happ got a glimpse into the kind of celebrity status Japanese-born major-leaguers carry in their home country when he visited Japan on his honeymoon last offseason.

“I had dinner with Seiya when we were over there, and he’s a superstar,” Happ said. “He’s a superstar over there, and Shohei’s on billboards and, obviously, a rock star as well. … And watching the World Baseball Classic [last year] with the games in the Tokyo Dome early on, it was electric, it was awesome. I think it’ll be a lot of that.”

The matchup between Yamamoto and Imanaga had its own electricity Tuesday, as well as international attention.

“It’s good for everyone to make it a global game,” Counsell said Tuesday afternoon. “And players like Shota and like Yamamoto help that, for sure. And I think games like tonight help that, absolutely. So hopefully we can put on a good show for everybody.”

Wild-card shuffling

The Cubs entered Tuesday still five games back of the last National League wild-card spot, a long shot to make the playoffs. And the two teams ahead of them continued to jockey back and forth.

The Mets caught up to the Braves last Thursday. And they’ve pulled ahead and fallen back into a tie several times since. The Mets had a one-game lead on the Braves going into play Tuesday.

With less than three weeks left in the regular season, the Cubs would need multiple teams to stumble in order to make up significant ground in the race.

“We know it’s a short stretch here,” said Kyle Hendricks, who held a staunch Dodgers lineup to two runs through 4 ⅓ innings Monday in the Cubs’ 10-4 win. “So just giving it everything we got. We know if we play to our potential, like [Monday], all-around good team game, anything can happen. So, just trying to put that together every single day right now.”

Injury update

Cubs reliever Jorge López (strained right groin) has advanced to the bullpen stage of his throwing program. He threw a 20-pitch bullpen on Tuesday, according to the Cubs.