Every Opening Day pitching matchup, ranked

Like us, maybe you got up early last week to watch the Dodgers and Cubs officially begin the 2025 season in the Tokyo Series. But as fun as that was, there is something perfect about an Opening Day with nearly every team playing, as we’ll have on Thursday.

Here is a ranking of all 15 season-opening matchups, in order of how compelling they are. (This includes Friday’s game between the Rays and Rockies, who have Thursday off.) The thing is … even No. 15 on the list is pretty compelling. After all, it’s Opening Day.

All times below are ET.

1. Pirates at Marlins, 4:10 p.m.
Paul Skenes vs. Sandy Alcantara
How about this, a world in which a Pirates-Marlins matchup is an undeniable highlight of Opening Day? As for the reason, look no further than this starting pitcher matchup. Alcantara, the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner, is making his first start since 2023, after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Both his results and stuff looked great this spring, and if Alcantara carries that into the regular season, he could quickly become the top target of the Trade Deadline. And Skenes? Well, Skenes is simply the most electrifying pitcher in the sport.

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2. Tigers at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Tarik Skubal vs. Blake Snell
The Dodgers are so stacked in the rotation that they tossed out two fantastic pitchers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki) in their two-game sweep of the Cubs in Tokyo and didn’t even get around to Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner whom they just signed for $182 million. He’ll make his Dodgers debut against Skubal, making this the day’s only matchup between Cy Young winners. As for Skubal, it’s between him and Skenes right now for the title of baseball’s best pitcher.

3. Mets at Astros, 4:10 p.m.
Clay Holmes vs. Framber Valdez
This is an absolutely fascinating one. This is old hat for Valdez, who, remarkably, is making his fourth straight Opening Day start for the Astros. (He doesn’t seem that old, does he?) But the real fascination is with Holmes, who totaled 74 saves for the Yankees over the past three seasons but will be making his first start -- on Opening Day! -- since Sept. 30, 2018, when he was with the Pirates. How long ago was that? He went 0-for-1 at the plate that game.

4. Red Sox at Rangers, 4:05 p.m.
Garrett Crochet vs. Nathan Eovaldi
This would rank even higher if the Rangers had tabbed the now-healthy Jacob deGrom, but even with Eovaldi getting the call for the second straight season, this is plenty intriguing. A lot of that is due to Crochet’s Red Sox debut. Boston fans have as much optimism for the start of their season as they’ve had in more than a half-decade, and the Crochet trade is a major reason for that, given the left-hander’s lights-out stuff.

5. Braves at Padres, 4:10 p.m.
Chris Sale vs. Michael King
Sale has the most career Opening Day starts of any pitcher receiving that honor this year -- this is his sixth -- and yet he hasn’t taken the ball in an opener since 2019 with the Red Sox. Now he’s back in the role, the year after winning his first Cy Young Award at age 35. King, in contrast, is starting his first Opening Day. While he was something of a surprising choice for the Padres, he also was fantastic in his first season in San Diego.

6. Brewers at Yankees, 3:05 p.m.
Freddy Peralta vs. Carlos Rodón
Obviously, this isn’t the starting pitching matchup the Yankees had in mind about, oh, two weeks ago, but you go to war with the army you have, not the one you want. Gerrit Cole is out, but Rodón certainly isn’t a bad Plan B. While he wasn’t the superstar last year that he was at times with the White Sox and Giants, he was more than enough for the Yankees, who got 175 innings out of him and are in desperate need of at least that many again. This is actually Rodón’s first Opening Day start since 2019; this is Peralta’s second for the Brewers in a row.

7. Cubs at D-backs, 10:10 p.m.
Justin Steele vs. Zac Gallen
You might have thought this would be Corbin Burnes’ debut for the D-backs, but instead, Gallen gets his third straight Opening Day start. Steele is the one pitcher on this list who has already appeared in 2025, giving up five runs in four innings against the Dodgers in Game 2 back in Tokyo.

8. Guardians at Royals, 4:10 p.m.
Tanner Bibee vs. Cole Ragans
[Editor's Note: Bibee was scratched a few hours before the game with food poisoning]
Fresh off a contract extension, Bibee becomes the first Guardians Opening Day starter who isn’t Shane Bieber or Corey Kluber since … 2014. (The starter then? Justin Masterson.) Ragans has established himself not just as the Royals’ ace but one of the best pitchers in baseball; he could be set up to hold this spot for them for a long time.

9. Twins at Cardinals, 4:15 p.m.
Pablo López vs. Sonny Gray
For one glorious year, 2023, these two pitchers headlined a Twins rotation that led the team to a division championship. Both Gray and López were terrific that year, and both were winning pitchers in the team’s Wild Card Series sweep of the Blue Jays. While both of them took small steps back in 2024 -- Gray after signing with St. Louis -- they are still clearly among the key leaders for their teams in 2025.

10. Orioles at Blue Jays, 3:07 p.m.
Zach Eflin vs. José Berríos
Orioles fans might have preferred a bigger name to make their Opening Day start, but for what it’s worth, over his nine starts for the Orioles last year, Eflin was better than Corbin Burnes, with a 2.60 ERA. (And he started Opening Day for the Rays last year. So he has done it before!) This is Berríos’ second Opening Day start in a row for the Blue Jays and his third of the last four years; he did it twice for the Twins from 2019-20 as well.

11. Athletics at Mariners, 10:10 p.m.
Luis Severino vs. Logan Gilbert
Severino was the surprise offseason signing for the A’s, and he’s rewarded with the Opening Day start in his team debut. This is Gilbert’s first opportunity to take the hill for the Mariners’ opener, coming off a season in which he made his first All-Star team and finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting, while leading the Majors in innings pitched and WHIP.

12. Phillies at Nationals, 4:05 p.m.
Zack Wheeler vs. MacKenzie Gore
Wheeler took over this assignment last year from Aaron Nola, who had made six straight Opening Day starts for the Phils. Gore, meanwhile, steps in for Josiah Gray. Opening Day was one of just two starts Gray made last season; he had Tommy John surgery last July.

13. Giants at Reds, 4:10 p.m.
Logan Webb vs. Hunter Greene
There’s more than one way to have success on the mound, as this matchup shows. Last year, Webb ranked in the 28th percentile in fastball velocity but in the 95th percentile in ground-ball rate; Greene ranked in the 96th percentile in fastball velocity but the 9th percentile in ground-ball rate. Both got the job done, though, with Greene blossoming into the ace the Reds have been expecting since making him the second overall pick of the 2017 Draft.

14. Rockies at Rays, 4:10 p.m. (Friday)
Kyle Freeland vs. Ryan Pepiot
The most significant debut in this game will be the one made by George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The Yankees’ Spring Training home normally hosts the Yankees’ Single-A affiliate during the regular season, but it has been pressed into service as a big league park in 2025, after Tropicana Field sustained significant damage during Hurricane Milton last October. As for Pepiot, he fills in for Shane McClanahan, whose return from Tommy John surgery has been delayed by nerve irritation in his left triceps area. Freeland, with this his fourth Opening Day start, becomes the first Rockies pitcher to reach that number.

15. Angels at White Sox, 4:10 p.m.
Yusei Kikuchi vs. Sean Burke
Kikuchi was excellent after the Astros acquired him at last year’s Trade Deadline, but now the question is whether the version of Kikuchi we saw in those 10 starts is the real one going forward. As for Burke? Well, this will be his fifth career MLB game and fourth start, with the 2021 third-round pick having made his debut last September.