⚾ A girl group that closed out a stage at Coachella is about to do something no setlist ever prepared them for: throw a pitch at a Major League Baseball game. On May 31, XG will take the mound at Dodger Stadium — and on the very same day, they finally told North American fans where to catch them live.

A Japanese girl group steps onto a baseball mound

XG — the seven-member group of JURIN, CHISA, HINATA, HARVEY, JURIA, MAYA and COCONA — announced on May 21 that they will throw the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on May 31 (local time), ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers' game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

It is their first first pitch in the United States. The moment the group posted the news to their official accounts, fans — who call themselves ALPHAZ — flooded the replies, and one very specific debate broke out almost immediately: which of the seven is actually going to throw it?

For readers meeting the group here for the first time: all seven members are Japanese, the group is based in South Korea, and they sing almost entirely in English. They debuted in March 2022 under the production company XGALX, and they describe their genre-blurring sound as "X-POP" — deliberately neither J-POP nor K-POP. The name XG itself was updated this January from "Xtraordinary Girls" to "Xtraordinary Genes."

Why Dodger Stadium, of all places

A music act throwing out a first pitch is not unheard of, but the choice of venue says a lot.

Dodger Stadium has, over the past few seasons, become something close to a second home for Japanese sports fans. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki have turned the Dodgers into the most-followed MLB team in Japan, and Japanese-language signage, food stalls and tour groups are now a normal part of a night at Chavez Ravine.

For XG, Los Angeles doubles as a kind of base camp. They closed the Sahara stage at Coachella in April 2025 — the first Japanese act ever to do so — and they will return to the LA area on August 8 for the Head in the Clouds festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. A first pitch at Dodger Stadium drops them into the middle of America's most visible Japan-friendly sports crowd, in the city where they have built the most momentum.

It also fits a pattern. Earlier this year XG were named a Coca-Cola ambassador tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. More and more, the group is not simply playing venues — they are being woven into big global sports moments.

Seven cities, seven nights: the North American run

The bigger news for fans planning ahead arrived in the same announcement: the North American leg of the XG WORLD TOUR: THE CORE finally has dates.

The tour — XG's second world tour, in support of their first full album THE CORE – 核 — opened in Japan in February and ran 16 shows across eight cities, wrapping with a three-night Tokyo finale at Yoyogi National Gymnasium that drew roughly 35,000 people. Asia and Oceania dates are already on the calendar: Bangkok on July 19, Manila on July 22, Hong Kong on August 2, Melbourne on October 12, Sydney on October 14, and Taipei on October 17.

The North American run is a seven-show arena tour, all in November 2026:

  • November 3 — Oakland, California — Oakland Arena
  • November 5 — Los Angeles, California — Crypto.com Arena
  • November 9 — Chicago, Illinois — United Center
  • November 12 — Hamilton, Ontario, Canada — TD Coliseum
  • November 14 — Newark, New Jersey — Prudential Center
  • November 17 — Dallas, Texas — American Airlines Center
  • November 22 — Mexico City, Mexico — Arena Ciudad de Mexico

On tickets: the ALPHAZ paid-members presale runs May 27–28 (local time), with registration handled through XG's official presale page. A limited batch of VIP packages opens May 27, and the general on-sale starts May 29 at 10 a.m. local time. Full details are posted on XGALX's official tour page.

One thing worth flagging for fans outside North America — Mexico City is the only Latin American stop, and there is no South American date. Brazilian and Argentine ALPHAZ have already started saying so, loudly, online.

The fanbase that made an arena tour possible

Booking rooms like the United Center and Crypto.com Arena is not a small step for a group that debuted only four years ago. So how did XG get here?

A lot of it ran through phones. XG's choreography-forward videos travel well on TikTok and short-form feeds, where a dance challenge does not need a shared language to spread. That viral base then converted into harder numbers. THE CORE – 核, released January 23, 2026, debuted on the Billboard 200, and the group has now landed three Top 40 hits on US radio — "LEFT RIGHT," "WOKE UP" and the pre-release single "GALA." "LEFT RIGHT" alone spent 13 straight weeks on the airplay chart.

Their first world tour, "The first HOWL," had already proven the live demand: 47 shows across 35 cities, roughly 400,000 attendees, and a Tokyo Dome date that made them the first Japanese girl group to headline that venue. An arena-sized North American run is, in that sense, simply the next size up.

So — is XG coming to your city?

For ALPHAZ in North America, the map just got a lot clearer: Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Hamilton, Newark, Dallas and Mexico City. And before any of that, there is a baseball mound in LA waiting for one very lucky member on May 31.

Is your city on the list — or are you already plotting a road trip to the nearest one? If you are going, which night did you pick, and who do you think should throw that first pitch? Tell us where the ALPHAZ are reading from.

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