Spring training is underway and Major League Baseball’s 2025 regular season is fast approaching. As such, it is never too early to keep tabs on each team’s Opening Day starter. These announcements come in throughout spring training and sometimes before camp even opens.
With that in mind, here is our living document chronicling every team’s Opening Day starter situation. These announcements are tentative because sometimes things change due to injury, so check back regularly for updates. We’ll have everything you need to know about Opening Day starters right here.
Before we get to the good stuff, here is the all-time Opening Day start leaderboard:
- Tom Seaver: 16
- Steve Carlton: 14
- Jack Morris: 14
- Randy Johnson: 14
- Walter Johnson: 14
While it’s true that Opening Day counts for only one game in the standings, it’s still an honor to be tabbed as the starting pitcher for that day. With that in mind, here’s who’s getting the ball in Game 1 around the league.
Zac Gallen has started the last two Opening Days for the D-backs, though it seems likely the nod will go to Corbin Burnes, the 2021 NL Cy Young winner and recipient of a $210 million contract this offseason. If it is Burnes, it would be his fourth straight Opening Day start, following 2022-23 with the Brewers and 2024 with the Orioles. The D-backs will host the Cubs to begin 2025.
The A’s have used six different Opening Day starters in the last seven years and this year will make it seven in eight years. The smart money is on Luis Severino getting the ball after signing a three-year, $67 million contract that is the largest in franchise history. The A’s will begin the season on the road against the Mariners. Their first home game in Sacramento will be Monday, March 31, against the Cubs.
It will be a surprise if it’s anyone but reigning NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale. Sale has made five career Opening Day starts between the White Sox (2013-14, 2016) and Red Sox (2018-19). Last year he threw 177 ⅔ innings with an MLB-leading 2.38 ERA. He struck out an NL-best 225 batters. The Braves will open 2025 on the road against the Padres. Spencer Strider, who is coming off UCL surgery, started Opening Day for Atlanta in 2025.
With Corbin Burnes leaving as a free agent and no big-name starter imported to replace him, Zach Eflin seems likely to get the Opening Day start for the O’s. Acquired from the Rays at least summer’s deadline, Eflin had a 2.60 ERA in 55 ⅓ innings for the Orioles. He was Tampa’s Opening Day starter last year. The O’s will be in Toronto to face the Blue Jays on Opening Day.
Brayan Bello started Opening Day for the BoSox last season, though offseason trade pickup Garrett Crochet figures to get the call here. Crochet had a terrific first year as a big league starter, striking out 209 batters with a 3.58 ERA in 146 innings. That earned him a spot in the All-Star Game. The Red Sox will begin the regular season in Texas against the Rangers.
Imanaga will indeed get the nod in his home country when the Cubbies begin the new season with two games against the Dodgers in Tokyo from March 18-19. The team announced it Feb. 18. Imanaga threw 173 ⅓ innings with a 2.91 ERA in 2024, and finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting and fifth in the Cy Young voting. He’ll be be Chicago’s fourth different Opening Day starter in four years, and this will represent his first Opening Day start in just his second season in MLB.
Garrett Crochet, last year’s Opening Day starter and breakout player, was traded over the winter. The Opening Day assignment could fall to veteran Martín Pérez, who is entering his 14th big-league season. It would be his first Opening Day start. The ChiSox will host the Angels on Opening Day as they look to improve upon last year’s historic 121-loss season.
Although Nick Martinez had a terrific 2024, it would seem likely Hunter Greene will get the Opening Day nod after finishing eighth in the NL Cy Young voting a year ago. He started the season opener for Cincinnati in 2023. Frankie Montas, now with the Mets, was their Opening Day starter in 2024. The Reds will take on the Giants at home to begin the new season.
Shane Bieber has started the last five Opening Days for Cleveland, and although he re-signed with the club this offseason, he won’t make a sixth straight as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. Tanner Bibee, the club’s best pitcher last year and their No. 1 starter in the postseason, is the obvious candidate to start Game 1 in Bieber’s place. The Guardians will be in Kansas City to play the Royals on Opening Day.
Kyle Freeland and Germán Márquez have combined to start the last six Opening Days for Colorado (three apiece). Márquez returned from Tommy John surgery last July and made just one start before elbow inflammation sent him back to the injured list. It’s a good bet either he or Freeland will start Opening Day again in 2025. The Rockies will visit the Rays to begin the new season. That will be the first MLB regular-season game played in George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa’s home for 2025.
It is only a matter of time until manager A.J. Hinch makes it official, and names reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal the club’s Opening Day starter. Skubal started Opening Day last season, then followed that up by throwing 192 innings with a 2.39 ERA and an MLB-leading 228 strikeouts en route to earning the league’s top pitching honors. The Tigers and Skubal will be in Los Angeles to face the Dodgers on Opening Day.
Barring a surprise, Framber Valdez will make his fourth straight Opening Day start for the Astros. He will be the first pitcher to start four consecutive season-openers for Houston since Roy Oswalt made eight straight from 2003-10. Valdez had a 2.91 ERA in 176 ⅓ innings in 2024. He will be a free agent after the 2025 season. The Astros will begin the new season at home against the Mets.
Kansas City has two excellent Opening Day starter candidates in Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans. Lugo finished second in the AL Cy Young last year. Ragans finished fourth in the voting, and started Opening Day last season. Being the incumbent could give Ragans the edge here. Either way, the Royals are in good hands. The Royals will host the AL Central-rival Guardians on Opening Day.
You don’t give Yusei Kikuchi three years and $63 million and then not start him on Opening Day, right? Kikuchi seems likely to get the assignment for the Halos, with veteran southpaw Tyler Anderson the top alternative following his bounceback 2024. The Angels will be on Chicago’s South Side to take on the White Sox on Opening Day.
The Dodgers had no shortage of Opening Day worthy starters. Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, may have had a leg up under normal circumstances. But, since the Dodgers will open the season with two games against the Cubs in Tokyo (March 18-19), they are expected to go with Yamamoto. Newcomer and fellow Japanese native Roki Sasaki is a candidate to start the second game of that series.
With his Tommy John surgery rehab complete, Alcantara, the 2022 NL Cy Young winner was the odds-on favorite to start the first game of the new season for the stripped-down Marlins, and he got the gig on Feb. 13. He started Opening Day four straight years from 2020-23 and will now start a new streak in 2025. Alcantara had a 4.14 ERA in 184 ⅔ innings in 2023, his last healthy season. He did not pitch at all in 2024. The Marlins will host the Pirates on Opening Day.
It will be Peralta for the second straight year, he confirmed to MLB.com on Feb. 13. “I was in the hallway yesterday, coming back from working out, and (manager Pat Murphy) just told me,” Peralta said. He started Opening Day last season and was the Game 1 starter in the postseason for the defending NL Central champs. Peralta had a 3.68 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 173 ⅔ innings in 2024. The Brewers will be in New York to play the Yankees on Opening Day.
On Jan. 22, Rocco Baldelli became the first manager to announce his Opening Day starter. He confirmed it will be López for the third consecutive season on the Inside Twins radio show (via the Star Tribune). López has a 3.87 ERA with 432 strikeouts in 379 ⅓ innings in two years with the Twins since coming over in the Luis Arraez trade with the Marlins. He will be the first Twins pitcher to make three consecutive Opening Day starts since Brad Radke made seven straight from 1999-2005. The Twins will begin the new season on the road against the Cardinals.
The Mets have had four different Opening Day starters in the last four years and it will become five in five in 2025. Sean Manaea, who returned to the team on a three-year contract worth $75 million, is the most logical choice, though Kodai Senga could get the nod instead. Jose Quintana started the season opener for the Mets last year. Juan Soto and the Mets will be in Houston to play the Astros on Opening Day.
Barring injury, Gerrit Cole will make his fifth Opening Day start for the Yankees. He of course got hurt last spring, which sent the Yankees scrambling. Nestor Cortes would up starting the season opener instead. Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young winner, had a 3.41 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 95 innings after returning from his elbow injury in June. The Yankee will host the Brewers to begin the new season.
Aaron Nola’s run of six straight Opening Day starts came to an end last season, when Zack Wheeler was given the ball in Game 1 and he’ll take it again this year. Wheeler is entering for the first year of his three-year, $126 million extension. He was the NL Cy Young runner-up last year thanks to a 2.57 ERA and 224 strikeouts in 200 innings. The Phillies will be on the road to face the Nationals on Opening Day.
Mitch Keller has started the last two Opening Days for the Pirates, but it has to be Paul Skenes this season, right? Right. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft was named NL Rookie of the Year last year, and he finished third in the NL Cy Young voting. He arrived in May and threw 133 innings with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts. Skenes and the Pirates will be in Miami to take on the Marlins on Opening Day.
Sonny Gray was announced as the club’s Opening Day starter last year, then a hamstring injury during spring training forced the Cardinals to pivot to Miles Mikolas. As long as Gray makes it through camp healthy, he figures to be the pick again this year. Gray has made three career Opening Day starts with the Athletics (2014-15) and Reds (2020). St. Louis will face the Twins, one of Gray’s former teams, in the season opener.
Yu Darvish has started three of the last four Opening Days for San Diego, though it seems likely he will cede the honor to Dylan Cease or Michael King. Cease is a trade candidate, however, and King was the Padres’ No. 1 starter last October. Things are a bit up in the air for the Padres right now. They will host the Braves on Opening Day.
With all due respect to future Hall of Famer and new Gians Justin Verlander, there’s no reason to think it will be anyone but Logan Webb. He has started the last three Opening Days and finished sixth in the NL Cy Young voting last season. Webb posted a 3.47 ERA in an NL-leading 204 ⅔ innings in 2024. The Giants will be on the road to take on the Reds in Game 1 of the new season.
Luis Castillo has started the last two season openers for Seattle, though Logan Gilbert and George Kirby are both more than worthy of the Opening Day assignment. If it is Castillo, it would be his fifth career Game 1 start (also 2019 and 2021 Reds, and 2023-24 Mariners). The Mariners will open the 2025 regular season at home against the A’s.
The Rays will add a big arm to their rotation this year when Shane McClanahan returns from Tommy John surgery. His arrival will get started immediately, as he’s been handed his third career Opening Day start (also 2022-23). IThe Rays will host the Rockies at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Opening Day.
Incredibly, the Rangers have not had a pitcher start consecutive Opening Days since Kevin Millwood started four straight from 2006-09. That could change this year if Nathan Eovaldi, last year’s Game 1 starter, gets the ball. He rejoined Texas on a three-year, $75 million contract this offseason. Of course, Jacob deGrom returned from Tommy John surgery late last year, and the two-time Cy Young winner is a fine Opening Day option as well. The Rangers will take on the Red Sox at home on Opening Day.
The Blue Jays could start José Berríos or Kevin Gausman on Opening Day, and neither would be out of place. Berríos started Opening Day for Toronto in 2022 and 2024. Gausman has made two career Opening Day starts (2017 Orioles and 2021 Giants). The Blue Jays will host the Orioles on Opening Day.
Last year was the first time since Livan Hernandez in 2011 that someone other than Patrick Corbin, Max Scherzer, or Stephen Strasburg started Opening Day for the Nationals. Josiah Gray got the Game 1 start last season, and he’s currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. MacKenzie Gore is the top option here. The Nationals will begin the new season at home against the Phillies.
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