Opening Day starters: Who's getting the call?

Opening Day starters: Who's getting the call?

March 27th, 2024

We now know the 30 pitchers who will have the honor of taking the mound for their teams to start season openers in 2024.

Those 30 assignments were officially announced on March 19 and included the Dodgers-Padres matchup ( vs. ) in the Seoul Series opener from Korea. Twenty-four more teams will play their first games on Thursday, March 28, with inclement weather pushing openers at Citi Field (Brewers-Mets) and Citizens Bank Park (Braves-Phillies) back to Friday, March 29.

The 30 Opening Day starters include 14 pitchers scheduled to step into that role for the first time. The group includes 20 pitchers who have been All-Stars and four who joined new teams this offseason.

As we gear up for Opening Day festivities, here is a fact to know about each of this year’s Opening Day starters.

All game times are ET. Noted in parentheses are how many times that pitcher has started on Opening Day, including the upcoming ‘24 start.

THURSDAY, MARCH 28

Angels at Orioles, 3:05 p.m. ET

(BAL, 3rd): Acquired from the Brewers in a blockbuster trade in February, Burnes will make his O's debut while logging his third straight Opening Day start. The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner has posted a 2.86 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and an 11.1 K/9 over the past four seasons, earning Cy Young votes in each year.
BAL 2023 OD starter: Kyle Gibson

(LAA, 1st): Sandoval gets the tough task of succeeding Shohei Ohtani as the Angels’ Opening Day starter after Ohtani got the ball the last two years. Should he earn a win against the Orioles to open 2024, Sandoval would be the first Angels left-hander to do so on Opening Day since Joe Saunders in 2009.
LAA 2023 OD starter: Ohtani

Twins at Royals, 4:10 p.m. ET

(MIN, 2nd): López will be making his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Twins. He’ll be the fifth different Twins pitcher to start Opening Day for Minnesota in back-to-back seasons since the start of 2006, joining 2019-20 José Berríos, 2016-17 Ervin Santana, 2011-12 Carl Pavano and 2006-07 Johan Santana. No Twins starter has done so in three or more straight seasons since 1999-2005 Brad Radke.
MIN 2023 OD starter: López

(KC, 1st): Ragans was fantastic over 12 starts for Kansas City last season after being acquired in the midseason trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Rangers -- the left-hander posted a 2.64 ERA and put together a stretch of 26 consecutive scoreless innings from Aug. 23-Sept. 10. The 26-year-old, making his first career Opening Day start, is a mere 14 years younger than Zack Greinke, who got the team’s past two season-opening assignments.
KC 2023 OD starter: Greinke

White Sox at Tigers, 4:10 p.m. ET

(CWS, 1st): With the recent trade of Dylan Cease to the Padres, Crochet will get the call on Opening Day. It will also be his first career Major League start, making him only the third pitcher in the last 80 years to make his first career start on Opening Day.
CWS 2023 OD starter: Cease

(DET, 1st): After missing the first three months last season while recovering from flexor tendon surgery, Skubal returned in July and looked like an ace the rest of the way, posting a 2.80 ERA with a 7.29 K/BB ratio and a 2.00 FIP. This is the fifth straight year the Tigers will start a southpaw in the opener, following Matthew Boyd (2020-21) and Eduardo Rodriguez (2022-23).
DET 2023 OD starter: Rodriguez

Pirates at Marlins, 4:10 p.m. ET

Mitch Keller (PIT, 2nd): Keller will be the first Pirates pitcher to start consecutive Opening Days since Francisco Liriano started three straight from 2014-16. At 27 years old, he’ll be the youngest Bucs starter to do so in two straight years since Oliver Pérez in 2005-06.
PIT 2023 OD starter: Keller

(MIA, 1st): With Sandy Alcantara sidelined while recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Marlins will give the ball to Luzardo to start their season opener this year, ending Alcantara’s franchise-record streak of four straight Opening Day starts. Luzardo is coming off a breakout season, having finished 2023 with a 3.58 ERA and 208 strikeouts over 178 2/3 innings.
MIA 2023 OD starter: Alcantara

Cardinals at Dodgers, 4:10 p.m. ET

(STL, 3rd): Sonny Gray, the centerpiece of St. Louis’ rotation overhaul this past offseason, was expected to begin his Cardinals tenure by taking the mound in the club’s season opener. However, a right hamstring strain has delayed his progress this spring, leaving Mikolas to take the ball for the second straight year. This will mark the 25th straight year a right-handed pitcher has taken the mound for the Cardinals’ opener.
STL 2023 OD starter: Mikolas

Tyler Glasnow (LAD): Before last week's series in Korea, Glasnow's only prior Opening Day start came in 2021, when he permitted only one hit across six scoreless innings for the Rays in a 1-0 victory over the Marlins. Glasnow had a no-decision against the Padres in his first start of 2024, but had a solid outing with five innings of two-hit, two-run ball.

Nationals at Reds, 4:10 p.m. ET

(WSH, 1st): Coming off his first All-Star selection in 2023, the 26-year-old Gray will try to join the high-profile duo of Stephen Strasburg (2013, ‘17) and Max Scherzer (2018) as the only Nationals starters to log a victory on Opening Day.
WSH 2023 OD starter: Patrick Corbin

Frankie Montas (CIN, 3rd): Signed to a one-year, $14 million contract ($20 million club option for '25) over the offseason, Montas is looking to rebound after barely pitching over the past two seasons due to a shoulder injury. He will get his third Opening Day assignment after pitching the opener for the A's in 2020 and '22. This marks the ninth straight opener in which the Reds will have a different starter than the previous year.
CIN 2023 OD starter: Hunter Greene

Blue Jays at Rays, 4:10 p.m. ET

(TOR, 4th): Berríos is making his second Opening Day start in a Blue Jays uniform -- the first two were made with the Twins in 2019-20 -- and he will be looking to forget his previous attempt, in which he recorded just one out against the Rangers in Toronto's 2022 season opener. He is one of 12 pitchers since 1901 to log no more than one-third of an inning in an Opening Day start.
TOR 2023 OD starter: Alek Manoah

(TB, 1st): Eflin's breakout, delayed several times over by injuries, finally came in 2023 -- in his first season with the Rays, when he posted a 3.50 ERA while setting a career-high in innings pitched (177 2/3) and led the AL with 16 wins. That performance, in addition to Shane McClanahan's ongoing recovery from Tommy John surgery, has earned him his first Opening Day start.
TB 2023 OD starter: McClanahan

Yankees at Astros, 4:10 p.m. ET

(NYY, 1st): With ace Gerrit Cole sidelined by an elbow injury, the Yanks' season-opener vs. Houston will mark the first time since 2019 that Cole hasn't taken the baseball on Opening Day for New York. Cortes missed a good of last season due to injury, and in 12 starts, he had a 4.97 ERA after posting a 2.44 ERA over 28 starts in '22.
NYY 2023 OD starter: Cole

(HOU, 3rd): Valdez will take the mound for his third consecutive Opening Day start for the Astros, coming off an up-and-down 2023 campaign. Valdez is the third pitcher to notch three straight Opening Day nods for Houston since just 2015, following Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander.
HOU 2023 OD starter: Valdez

Giants at Padres, 4:10 p.m. ET

(SF, 3rd): The National League's 2023 Cy Young award runner-up will get his third consecutive Opening Day start, making him the first Giant to do so since Madison Bumgarner's streak of four in a row from 2014-17. In the Giants' 2023 opener against the Yankees in New York, Webb tallied 12 strikeouts, a franchise record for Opening Day.
SF 2023 OD starter: Webb

Yu Darvish (SD): The season-opening loss to the Dodgers was Darvish's fourth career Opening Day start, having made two other ones with the Padres since being traded there before the 2021 season, and one with the Rangers back in 2017. In that Seoul Series outing, Darvish threw 3 2/3 innings with no earned runs allowed, struggling with control to an extent (three walks) but ultimately exiting with the lead before Los Angeles came back late.

Cubs at Rangers, 7:35 p.m. ET

(CHC, 1st): Steele gets the nod after a breakout 2023 campaign in which he finished fifth in the National League Cy Young voting and earned his first All-Star selection. He ranked second among Senior Circuit starters in ERA+ (146) and tied for seventh in bWAR (3.8). Steele, 28, will be the 10th left-handed pitcher in Cubs history to start on Opening Day and the second this century. Jon Lester made four such starts for Chicago from 2015-19.
CHC 2023 OD starter: Marcus Stroman

(TEX, 4th): Eovaldi, who started three straight season openers for the Red Sox from 2020-22, will be the Rangers' 14th individual Opening Day starter in the last 15 seasons -- since 2010, only Cole Hamels, who started in 2016 and '18, has received multiple opening honors.
TEX 2023 OD starter: Jacob deGrom

Guardians at A's, 10:07 p.m. ET

(CLE, 5th): This will be the fifth straight Opening Day for which Cleveland has handed the ball to Bieber, who has a pristine 1.19 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings in his first four tries. With Aaron Nola, Gerrit Cole and Sandy Alcantara all seeing their four-season runs end this year, Bieber will now take sole possession of the longest active streak of Opening Day starts.
CLE 2023 OD starter: Bieber

(OAK, 1st): After three seasons with the Giants, the 33-year-old Wood ducked across town over the winter to lead the A's rotation. The A’s continue to see quite a bit of turnover in the Opening Day starter role, with only two (Sonny Gray and Kendall Graveman) going with multiple starts since 2010.
OAK 2023 OD starter: Kyle Muller

Red Sox at Mariners, 10:10 p.m. ET

(BOS, 1st): The 24-year-old enjoyed a breakout season in 2023, then signed an extension with Boston this spring. Now he’ll get the ball on Opening Day, as the team’s youngest season-opening starter since Aaron Sele (also 24) in 1995.
BOS 2023 OD starter: Corey Kluber

(SEA, 4th): Castillo will make his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Mariners. His first two came with the Reds (2019 and 2021). He was masterful on the first day of the 2023 season, allowing only one hit in six innings with no walks and six K's as part of a 3-0 victory over the Guardians.
SEA 2023 OD starter: Castillo

Rockies at D-backs, 10:10 p.m. ET

(COL, 3rd): With Germán Márquez still recovering from Tommy John, Freeland will get his third shot at Opening Day, tying Márquez for the franchise lead. Freeland had mixed results in his first two attempts, throwing seven innings of one-run ball against the Marlins in 2019 followed by a less successful outing against the Dodgers in 2022 (3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K).
COL 2023 OD starter: Márquez

Zac Gallen (AZ, 2nd): Gallen is coming off a hard-working 2023 campaign, having followed up his 210 regular-season innings with a further 33 2/3 in the playoffs. After earning a third-place finish in NL Cy Young Award voting, Gallen will become the sixth D-backs pitcher to start multiple Opening Days, after Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, Ian Kennedy, Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner.
ARI 2023 OD starter: Gallen

FRIDAY, MARCH 29 (postponed from Thursday)

Brewers at Mets, 1:10 p.m. ET

(MIL, 1st): Peralta's first Opening Day start will also mark the first time since 2019 that a pitcher not named Corbin Burnes or Brandon Woodruff takes the mound in Milwaukee's season opener. Peralta posted a 3.86 ERA and 30.9% strikeout rate over 30 starts (165 2/3 innings) for the Brewers last year.
MIL 2023 OD starter: Corbin Burnes

(NYM, 2nd): A rib injury kept Quintana sidelined for Opening Day last season, his first with the Mets. He made his debut on July 20 and recorded a 3.57 ERA in 13 starts. Seven years removed from his first Opening Day start with the White Sox in 2017, Quintana will be the Mets' first left-hander to start the season's first game since Jon Niese in 2013.
NYM 2023 OD starter: Max Scherzer

Braves at Phillies, 3:05 p.m. ET

(ATL, 1st): Strider, having virtually taken over as the Braves' full-time ace after leading all of baseball in wins (20), strikeouts (281) and K/9 (13.5) in 2023, will break Max Fried's active streak of three consecutive Opening Day starts when he gets the ball in Philly.
ATL 2023 OD starter: Fried

Zack Wheeler (PHI, 1st): By earning his first career Opening Day start, Wheeler will end Aaron Nola's streak of six straight Opening Day starts for the Phillies from 2018-23. Wheeler has become one of baseball's top starters since coming to the Phillies in 2020, posting a 3.00 ERA and 743 strikeouts in 692 2/3 combined regular season and postseason innings. The right-hander entered camp in the last year of his five-year, $118 million deal but signed a three-year, $126 million extension with the Phillies on March 4.
PHI 2023 OD starter: Aaron Nola