The Tigers, a team on the rise, will open their quest for a second consecutive playoff berth against the team at the top. That sight isn’t lost on the young players who led Detroit on an incredible late-season run last year to its first postseason berth in a decade.

When the Tigers take the field on March 27 at 7:10 p.m. ET, they’ll be part of what should be an emotional day at Dodger Stadium. Though the Dodgers will have already opened their season with two games against the Cubs in Tokyo, their true home opener is big. Not only will it be the first time Los Angeles has taken the field there since winning the World Series at Yankee Stadium nearly five months ago, it’ll be the first time for the club on its home field since wildfires ravaged southern California in January.

For a fan base that has had more than its fair share of hardship, seeing the Dodgers is a welcome return to normalcy, even when it comes with a matchup against an abnormal talent in Tigers ace and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Tigers starter: LHP Tarik Skubal
Previous Opening Days started: 2024
2024 season: 18-4, 2.39 ERA, 192 IP, 142 H, 35 BB, 228 K

How fitting that Skubal, the Tigers’ great equalizer whom any team would love to have in a one-game scenario, will begin the encore to his incredible 2024 campaign by taking the mound against baseball’s Goliath and reigning World Series champions. The 2018 ninth-round Draft pick won the AL’s pitching Triple Crown last season and was the lone constant in the pitching chaos formula that manager A.J. Hinch leveraged down the stretch to a postseason berth.

Skubal has shown no signs of letting up from his dominant form this year. He threw a 100 mph fastball in his first Spring Training inning, polished his array of breaking pitches and furthered the changeup that flummoxed right-handed hitters so much last year that even fellow Cy Young winner Robbie Ray wanted to learn it.

“You get to face the reigning champs on Day 1,” Skubal said of the challenge. “You see how their offseason was and you see that lineup, it’ll be fun. And in their home park, too. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“You don’t know how many Opening Days you’re going to start in your career. It’s an honor to be able to start two of them.”

Skubal faced the Dodgers last July, striking out eight over six innings of two-run ball in a no-decision at Comerica Park. One of the runs was a Freddie Freeman solo homer.

Dodgers starter: TBD

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the Dodgers' true Opening Day starter, making a homecoming start in Japan in the season-opening Tokyo Series against the Cubs. Manager Dave Roberts has indicated that neither Yamamoto nor Roki Sasaki, who will start the second game in Tokyo, will take the ball for the domestic opener.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Dodgers turned to Blake Snell, who signed a five-year, $182 million deal with Los Angeles this past offseason. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has made two Opening Day starts, one each with the Rays and the Padres. He's brought an immediate ace pedigree to a rotation full of pitchers who could anchor many other staffs across the Majors.

Snell signed with the Giants at the end of last year's Spring Training, then turned his season around after a rough first half that included two IL stints. He posted a 3.12 ERA and struck out 145 across 104 innings over 20 starts.