Juan Soto, Blake Snell, and Clay Holmes play for new teams, Paul Skenes makes his first opening-day start at 22, and Sandy Alcántara returns from Tommy John surgery.
A week after the Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending champions, swept a two-game series against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo, 26 other teams begin their seasons on opening day in the U.S. and Canada.
The Rays and Rockies will be the last teams to play, starting one day later. They are given extra time because Tampa Bay moved to the New York Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field for the season after Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field’s roof.
The Athletics, without a city name, begin the first of at least three years at a temporary minor league stadium in Sacramento. They will host the Cubs on Monday but start their season in Seattle with Luis Severino pitching after agreeing to a team-record $67 million, three-year contract.
Across Major League Baseball, Clayton McCullough makes his debut as Miami’s manager, while Terry Francona and Will Venable begin their tenures with Cincinnati and the Chicago White Sox, respectively.
The opening day features starting pitchers named Zack, Zach, and Zac
The Yankees, with injuries to three of their starting pitchers—Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt—open the season at home. Carlos Rodón makes his first opening-day start for the defending American League champions. Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu are also injured.
Freddy Peralta pitches for Milwaukee, where fans may see former closer Devin Williams again. This will be the first time since Williams struggled in the ninth inning of the NL Wild Card Series Game 3, allowing a three-run homer to the Mets’ Pete Alonso.
$765 million reasons to pay attention
Soto signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract to leave the Yankees and join the Mets, who have spent a total of $1.36 billion on payroll and luxury tax over the past four years under owner Steve Cohen. Despite this, the Mets have not won a title since 1986.
New York has a record of 41-22 in opening games, giving them the best winning percentage of any team at .651. After losing their first eight openers, the Mets have won 41 of their last 55.
Holmes left the Yankees to sign a $38 million, three-year deal with the Mets and will make his first start since 2018 with Pittsburgh. Framber Valdez will pitch for the Astros.
Clay Homes pitches in the 1st inningRaising the flag
After winning their second title in five years and eighth overall, the Dodgers will raise the World Series flag above Chavez Ravine before their home opener against Detroit.
Snell, a Cy Young Award winner in 2018 and 2023, joined the Dodgers on a $182 million, five-year contract as part of a spending spree where the team committed $458.5 million to nine players. Tarik Skubal, the AL Cy Young winner, will start for the Tigers. Detroit finished strong last season, winning 15 of their last 20 games, sweeping Houston in the Wild Card Series, and losing to Cleveland in a five-game Division Series.
First of many?
Skenes, the NL Rookie of the Year, will be 22 years and 302 days old when he pitches for Miami. He will be the youngest opening day starting pitcher since José Fernández, who was 21 years and 243 days old in 2014.
Alcántara will make his first start for Miami since September 3, 2023. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner had Tommy John surgery on October 6 of that year. Clayton McCullough will manage his first game for the Marlins after replacing Skip Schumaker.
Sale starts opener for Braves
NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale will start his sixth opener, but it will be his first for Atlanta after starting three times for the White Sox and two times for Boston. With Yu Darvish out due to elbow inflammation, Michael King will start for the Padres. King pitched seven scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts against the Braves in last year’s Wild Card Series opener.
New faces for the Red Sox
Garrett Crochet will start for Boston against Texas after being traded from the White Sox in the offseason. Last year, the White Sox started Crochet in the opener of a season that ended with a record 121 losses. Alex Bregman will take over at third base after agreeing to a $120 million, three-year contract. Rafael Devers will move to designated hitter, and 22-year-old Kristian Campbell is set to start at second base in his major league debut.
Nathan Eovaldi becomes the first pitcher for Texas to make consecutive opening day starts since Kevin Millwood, who did so from 2006 to 2009.
Paul Skenes pitches in the 3rd inningGallen starts for Diamondbacks against Cubs
Zac Gallen was chosen over Corbin Burnes to start for Arizona against the Cubs, marking his third straight opening day start. Justin Steele will make his second start of the season for Chicago after allowing five runs over four innings in their second game loss to the Dodgers last week.
On the road, before heading to a temporary home
Before beginning their time in Sacramento on Monday against the Cubs, the Athletics will open the season in Seattle with Luis Severino, the third straight pitcher to make his A’s debut by starting opening day, following Kyle Muller and Alex Wood.
Coming off his first All-Star selection, Logan Gilbert will start Seattle’s first opener. Dan Wilson will begin his first full season as Mariners manager after taking over for Scott Servais last August.
Blue Jays seek sixth straight opening day win
José Berríos will start his fifth opening day, joining Jimmy Key, Dave Stieb, and Roy Halladay as the only pitchers to start three opening days for Toronto. The Blue Jays have the longest opening day winning streak in the big leagues. Outfielder Anthony Santander will debut for the Blue Jays.
Zach Eflin, who was acquired from the Rays last summer, will start for the Orioles. He will become the fourth pitcher since 1900 to start consecutive opening days against the same team for different teams, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The other pitchers were Sad Sam Jones, Wes Ferrell, and Madison Bumgarner.
Kikuchi becomes the record third Japanese pitcher to start 2025 opener
Kikuchi will make his Los Angeles Angels debut, following opening starts by the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga in Japan last week.
Sean Burke, a 25-year-old right-hander who made his first three big league starts last September, becomes the sixth pitcher in 70 years to start an opener with three or fewer big league starts. This is according to Elias, after players like Crochet, Tanner Scheppers, David Nied, Al Holland, and Fernando Valenzuela.
Wheeler starts second straight Phillies opener
At 34, Zack Wheeler becomes the oldest Philadelphia pitcher to make consecutive opening day starts since Halladay did it for his third straight in 2012. MacKenzie Gore, at 26, will be the Nationals’ youngest opening day starter since Stephen Strasburg in 2014.
Cole Ragans pitches in the 1st inningRagans starts second straight opener for Royals
Cole Ragans, at 27, will be the youngest Kansas City pitcher to start two openers in a row since Jeff Suppan did it in 2002. In an AL Central matchup, Tanner Bibee will start for Cleveland after agreeing to a $48 million, five-year contract.
Francona back in dugout with Reds
Francona begins his 24th season as a big league manager at age 65, after taking a season off to recover his health. He previously managed Cleveland for 11 seasons. Hunter Greene will start for the Reds, who have only used right-handed pitchers for their opening day starts since 1999.
Shortstop Willy Adames debuts for the Giants after signing a $182 million, seven-year contract with a team managed by former star catcher Buster Posey.
López starts third straight opener for Twins
Pablo López becomes the first Minnesota pitcher to start three openers in a row since Brad Radke’s seven from 1999 to 2005. Sonny Gray will start his fourth opener and his first for St. Louis after playing for Oakland and Cincinnati. The Cardinals open their last season under president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, who has led the team since October 2007 and will be replaced next fall by Chaim Bloom.
Eyes on batters
In the third season of restrictions on defensive shifts and larger bases, the focus will be on offense.
Last year’s final batting average of .2433 was higher in the post-1900 era than only .237 in 1968, .239 in 1908, .242 in 1967, and .2427 in 2022.
Robot umpires on the horizon
This could be the last opening day without robot umpires overseeing the men calling balls and strikes.
A spring training test of the Automated Ball-Strike System was mostly well-received and may lead to regular-season use in 2026.
