Opening Day features Los Angeles Dodgers against St. Louis Cardinals on MLB Network Showcase, this Thursday, March 28, at 4 p.m. ET
March 26, 2024 – Opening Day will feature the first MLB Network Showcase telecast of the season, as Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers take on Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals live from Dodger Stadium this Thursday, March 28, at 4 p.m. ET. Bob Costas (play-by-play), Dan Plesac (analyst) and Jon Morosi (reporter) will be on the call presented by Casamigos, with extensive Opening Day coverage beginning on MLB Central (9 a.m. ET), High Heat (11 a.m. ET), MLB Now (12 p.m. ET) and MLB Tonight (1 p.m. ET). New MLB Network analyst Adam Wainwright will make his network debut on MLB Tonight alongside Greg Amsinger and Harold Reynolds following the Dodgers and Cardinals on Opening Day. MLB Network’s daily studio lineup for the 2024 regular season features:
9 a.m. ET – MLB Central presented by Hyundai – Mark DeRosa, Robert Flores and Lauren Shehadi provide the wake-up call for baseball fans with an informative, irreverent and humorous look at the game, covering the previous night’s action and the slate of games ahead. Entering its 10th season, DeRo’s Deep Dives from the Skybox inside MLB Network’s Studio 21 remain an annual fixture on the program.
11 a.m. ET – High Heat presented by KitKat – In an action-packed show featuring segment staples The Brushback and Turn Back Time, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo and Alanna Rizzo bring lively discussion and debate, including interviews with MLB’s biggest newsmakers.
12 p.m. ET – MLB Now – Coined “The show for the thinking fan,” host Brian Kenny examines the latest analytics and trends in the game. Signature segments Digging In, Baseball-y Plays of the Day and Managerial Check will be featured as panelists Bob Costas, Jon Heyman, Dan O’Dowd, Steve Phillips and others provide thoughtful discussion on how the play on the field and data-driven decisions continues to evolve in baseball.
4 p.m. ET – Off Base – Host Lauren Gardner, along with panelists Xavier Scruggs and Ariel Epstein give unique perspectives on the hottest topics of the day. The show explores the latest buzz across social media, from baseball culture to player fashion. New Yahoo Sports National MLB insider Russell Dorsey will make regular appearances on the program, plus fans will get a peek into a players-only meeting with a Don’t Hate The Player segment.
5 p.m. ET – Intentional Talk presented by Sport Clips – Co-hosts Ryan Dempster, Kevin Millar and Siera Santos provide unfiltered analysis alongside revealing player interviews that are driven by their signature sense of humor. Millar and Dempster cover the news of the day from all angles in The Flip Side, plus big leaguers expose their hidden talents and divulge untold tales in the entertaining Secret Santos segment.
6 p.m. ET – MLB Tonight to Quick Pitch – Featuring a team of hosts, including Greg Amsinger, Adnan Virk, Taylor McGregor, Matt Vasgersian and Melanie Newman, all of MLB Network’s bells and whistles will be on display to get fans ready for the night ahead: On-site interviews and demos via Ballpark Cam and unparalleled analysis in Studio 42, MLB Network’s replica baseball field. As the games begin, live look-ins of key moments will be featured, as a collection of former big-leaguers turned analysts, including Yonder Alonso, Sean Casey, Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, Jake Peavy, Al Leiter, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds, Chris Young and more will offer their off-the-cuff reaction and insight.
1 a.m. ET – Quick Pitch presented by Best Western – New MLB Network host Abby Labar and Kelly Nash bring fans up to speed on everything that happened that day in baseball. Scores, jaw-dropping highlights, mesmerizing statistics, important news and the best calls from announcers across the country. Labar has currently been contributing as a host and reporter to MSG Networks, a role she will continue. Labar will make her Quick Pitch debut on Opening Day this Thursday.
Hosted by A.J. Andrews, Play Ball presented by Nike, MLB Network’s weekly program designed to educate young fans about the great game of baseball, returns this Saturday, March 30 at 10 a.m. ET. Action-packed segments, including *Chatter Up! A Play Ball Group Chat, *Who Kid It Be?, *Answer is Revealed* and *Kickin’ It presented by Nike* will be featured across each program. Utilizing MLB’s expansive historical footage library, new segment Demos Through Time will debut, coupling legendary tips from a Hall of Famer with a demonstration from a star player of today’s game.
Big Inning presented by BetMGM, MLB Network’s action-packed show hosted by Matt Yallof and Gregg Caserta, featuring extensive live looks-ins of games in progress and highlights of all the biggest moments, will again air this season, most notably on Saturday’s. Announced last week, four-time Manager of the Year Buck Showalter has returned to MLB Network as an on-air analyst, making his debut on Monday, April 1, on the 6 p.m. ET edition of MLB Tonight.
As announced last week and under the new theme “Baseball Eve,” MLB Network will air nine different studio shows tomorrow, March 27, marking the most-ever new studio content MLB Network has produced the day before Opening Day. MLB Tonight: Women at Bat – Breaking Barriers In Baseball will debut at 5 p.m. (ET), the Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight will air at 6 p.m. (ET), followed by a National League Preview at 7 p.m. (ET), an American League Preview at 8 p.m. (ET) and a Predictions Special at 9 p.m. (ET).