CHICAGO -- Welcome to the balanced world of the 2024 American League Central, where the Detroit Tigers have their focus on a division title after an improved finish in '23, and the rebuilding White Sox believe they can contend.

• Get tickets

This Midwest divisional rivalry starts up again on Thursday afternoon in Chicago, with an early forecast of 50 degrees and mostly sunny -- considered summer-like Windy City conditions for this time of year. Detroit finished 78-84 in 2023 behind the emergence of young talent in the field such as Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, as well as Tarik Skubal -- who gets the Opening Day nod -- on the mound.

1. Parker Meadows, CF

The White Sox are coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history, posting a 61-101 record. General manager Chris Getz, who took over at the end of last August, has revamped the team, culminating with the trade of former staff ace Dylan Cease to San Diego on March 13. The White Sox are built on improved defense and playing FAST -- an acronym put forth by manager Pedro Grifol.

These two teams open against each other for the second time in three seasons and for the third time in the past eight.

When is the game and how can I watch it?

First pitch is at 4:10 p.m. ET/3:10 CT on Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. The game can be seen on MLB.TV, or locally on Bally Sports Detroit or NBC Sports Chicago. Fans can also listen on At Bat, 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit or ESPN 1000 in Chicago.

What are the lineups?

Tigers:

1. Andy Ibáñez, 3B
2. Spencer Torkelson, 1B
3. Riley Greene, LF
4. Mark Canha, DH
5. Matt Vierling, RF
6. Colt Keith, 2B
7. Jake Rogers, C
8. Javier Báez, SS
9. Parker Meadows, CF

White Sox:

1. Andrew Benintendi, LF
2. Yoán Moncada, 3B
3. Luis Robert Jr., CF
4. Eloy Jiménez, DH
5. Andrew Vaughn, 1B
6. Paul DeJong, SS
7. Kevin Pillar, RF
8. Martín Maldonado, C
9. Nicky Lopez, 2B

Who are the starting pitchers?

Tigers: Tarik Skubal
Skubal will be the Tigers’ first homegrown Opening Day starter since Justin Verlander in 2017, also an opener against the White Sox. It’s an assignment that not only establishes Skubal as the face of Detroit’s homegrown pitching rebuild, but also recognizes Skubal’s rise as one of the American League’s up-and-coming starters. He finished his comeback season with a dominant September, allowing one run in 23 innings with 36 strikeouts and just two walks over his final four starts to earn AL Pitcher of the Month honors. His changeup, once the missing piece in his power-centric arsenal, became one of the nastiest offspeed offerings in baseball, with a 50.6% whiff rate, according to Statcast.

White Sox: Garrett Crochet
Crochet is making his first Opening Day start, which also happens to be his first career regular-season start. The southpaw talked with Getz in the offseason about transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation, and he backed up his desire by striking out 14 and walking one over 12 2/3 Cactus League innings. There will be an innings and pitch count watch on Crochet, who has thrown 73 big league innings over three seasons as a reliever.

How might the bullpens line up after the starter?

Tigers: Manager A.J. Hinch prefers a versatile bullpen in which relievers can be deployed more for situations than specific innings. That said, Alex Lange is in a position to get the bulk of Detroit’s save opportunities if he can continue to pound the strike zone and draw swings and misses like he did in Spring Training. Jason Foley, who received some save chances last summer, is another option after enhancing his swing-and-miss rate this spring. Otherwise, he’ll reprise his role as one of baseball’s more underrated setup relievers. Andrew Chafin, Shelby Miller and Tyler Holton provide versatility to bridge the gap between Detroit’s starters and the late innings.

White Sox: Kopech has looked outstanding since his move from the rotation to the bullpen in mid-camp, even hitting 101 mph on the Camelback Ranch scoreboard radar reading during a recent outing. He should be the closer and figures to get plenty of high-leverage work, though Grifol won’t name a set closer. Look for rookie right-hander Jordan Leasure, as well as veteran lefty Tim Hill and right-handers Steven Wilson and John Brebbia to also be in that late-inning leverage picture.

“How can I justify to myself, or sleep at night, if we have a leverage situation in the eighth with the [Nos.] 2, 3 and 4 hitters coming up and I don’t use our best guy?” Grifol said. “Or the best leverage guy available that day.”

Any injuries of note?

Tigers: The only Tiger on the injured list to open the season is right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long (left groin strain).

White Sox: Catcher Max Stassi, who didn’t play in 2023, is dealing with general soreness and doesn’t appear likely to be part of the Opening Day roster. Korey Lee would be his replacement. Right-handed reliever Jimmy Lambert has battled right shoulder soreness for much of Spring Training and will begin the year on the injured list.

Who’s hot and who’s not?

Tigers: Meadows hit safely in each of his final eight Grapefruit League games, batting 12-for-23 (.522) with two home runs, three RBIs and three stolen bases in that span. Rogers went 5-for-15 (.333) over his last four Spring Training games and he homered in his last two. Carpenter went 10-for-28 (.357) with three homers and eight RBIs over his last nine Grapefruit League games.

On the other hand, Báez went just 6-for-47 (.128) in Spring Training with two sacrifice flies, one walk and 14 strikeouts, though he doubled in each of his final two games. Torkelson went 7-for-48 (.146) for the spring, but he went 3-for-4 with a triple last Saturday.

White Sox: Vaughn hit safely in nine of his last 12 games this spring and played a strong first base defensively. Jiménez, employing a new offensive approach with his hands more elevated, slashed .330/.370/.529 with two home runs and 13 RBIs over 18 games. DeJong topped the team with 16 RBIs and tied for the team lead with three home runs. The two runs allowed by rookie reliever Leasure in Sunday’s Cactus League finale were the only two he gave up in 10 appearances, all while racking up 11 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings.

Meanwhile, Chicago right fielder Dominic Fletcher finished 11-for-54 (.204) overall at the plate, though he closed with a 4-for-8 stretch, including a home run. Shaw had an 11.57 ERA over 10 spring outings, though 10 of his earned runs came in back-to-back appearances on March 2 and March 7. He struck out 11 over 7 1/3 innings.

Anything else fans might want to know?

John Schriffen is set for his regular-season debut as the new TV voice of the White Sox. Darrin Jackson, who works as the club's radio analyst, starts his 25th season of broadcasting for the White Sox.