Below you will find every confirmed starting pitcher for each team in Game 1 of the 2025 season, as announced by the club. Noted in parentheses is how many times that pitcher has started on Opening Day, including the upcoming '25 start.
TUESDAY, MARCH 18
Dodgers 4, Cubs, 1: Tokyo Series opener
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD, 1st): Taking the hill in his home country of Japan, Yamamoto worked five innings of one-run ball to earn the win as he opens the second season of a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers. Yamamoto, who recorded a 3.00 ERA over 90 innings as a rookie in 2024, spent seven seasons pitching for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball.
LAD 2024 OD starter: Tyler Glasnow
Shota Imanaga (CHC, 1st): Like his countryman Yamamoto, Imanaga embraced the opportunity to begin his second Major League season while pitching on native soil. Though he walked four batters, Imanaga didn't allow the Dodgers a hit across four innings, taking a no-decision in the Cubs' season-opening loss. After spending eight seasons with the Yokohama Bay Stars of NPB, the left-handed Imanaga arrived in the Majors last year and immediately established himself as one of the top starters in the National League. He boasted a sub-1.00 ERA after his first nine starts and ended with a 2.91 mark, third-best in the NL. He was a first-year All-Star and finished among the top five in the NL Cy Young and NL Rookie of the Year voting.
CHC 2024 OD starter: Justin Steele
THURSDAY, MARCH 27
Brewers at Yankees, 3:05 p.m. ET
Freddy Peralta (MIL, 2nd): Peralta, who took up the ace mantle last season after the Brewers traded Corbin Burnes, is set to make his second straight Opening Day start. He opened the 2024 campaign by tossing six innings of one-run ball in a win over the Mets and finished the season with a 3.68 ERA and 200 K's across 173 2/3 frames.
MIL 2024 OD starter: Peralta
Carlos Rod¨®n (NYY, 2nd): Gerrit Cole's season-ending elbow injury opened the door for Rod¨®n to make his 2nd career Opening Day start. His first came in 2019 with the White Sox. He took the loss against the Royals after permitting three runs (two earned) over 5 1/3 innings. Rod¨®n dominated the Brewers when he faced them last April, allowing one run on two hits and striking out eight batters over six innings.
NYY 2024 OD starter: Nestor Cortes
Orioles at Blue Jays, 3:07 p.m. ET
Zach Eflin (BAL, 2nd): Eflin got the call on Opening Day for the Rays last season. He faced, coincidentally, the Blue Jays and allowed six earned runs and three homers over 5 2/3 innings in a losing effort. The 30-year-old will become the fourth pitcher since 1900 to start consecutive Opening Day contests against the same club while pitching for two different teams. He will also be Baltimore's ninth different Opening Day starting pitcher since 2016.
BAL 2024 OD starter: Corbin Burnes
Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos (TOR, 5th): Berr¨ªos will be Toronto's Opening Day starter for the third time in four seasons. He led the Blue Jays to victory at the start of last season, allowing two runs over six innings in an 8-2 win over the Rays. Berr¨ªos is coming off a year in which he posted a 3.60 ERA over 192 1/3 innings, which were the seventh-most in the Majors. The 30-year-old has made exactly 32 starts in each of the past six non-shortened seasons. Berr¨ªos will become the first pitcher from Puerto Rico to start at least five season openers. No other hurler from Puerto Rico has started more than three times on Opening Day.
TOR 2024 OD starter: Berr¨ªos
Red Sox at Rangers, 4:05 p.m. ET
Garrett Crochet (BOS, 2nd): What a difference a year makes. When Crochet drew the Opening Day nod for the White Sox in 2024, he did so without a single game of professional starting experience under his belt. Now, the left-hander is an emerging ace set to begin his tenure with the Red Sox, who acquired him from Chicago in a blockbuster trade this past December. After finishing the 2024 campaign with a 3.58 ERA, 209 strikeouts and 33 walks over 146 innings, Crochet will have a chance to cement himself as one of the game's top starters in '25, beginning with his Opening Day outing against the Rangers.
BOS 2024 OD starter: Brayan Bello
Nathan Eovaldi (TEX, 5th): Eovaldi, who tested free agency but returned to Texas on a three-year, $75 million deal in the offseason, will become the first pitcher to go back-to-back as the Rangers¡¯ Opening Day starter since Kevin Millwood made four straight season-opening starts for the club from 2006-09. In four career Opening Day starts for the Red Sox and Rangers, Eovaldi has recorded a 2.82 ERA over 22 1/3 innings.
TEX 2024 OD starter: Eovaldi
Phillies at Nationals, 4:05 p.m. ET
Zack Wheeler (PHI, 2nd): The 2024 NL Cy Young Award runner-up will get the ball on Opening Day for the second straight year. Wheeler tossed six shutout innings against the Braves in a no-decision to begin last season. His first test in 2025 will come against the Nationals, a team he handled well in '24. Wheeler made three starts against Washington last year and recorded a 2.29 ERA with 23 strikeouts and five walks over 19 2/3 frames.
PHI 2024 OD starter: Wheeler
MacKenzie Gore (WSH, 1st): Coming off a promising 2024 campaign that saw him post a 3.90 ERA with 181 strikeouts over 166 1/3 innings, Gore will have the chance to make his first career Opening Day start this year. The Nationals, who acquired Gore in the 2022 trade that sent Juan Soto from Washington to San Diego, are counting on the left-hander to take another step forward in ¡¯25 as they look to solidify their rotation. The 26-year-old will become the youngest Opening Day starter for Washington since 25-year-old Stephen Strasburg in 2014.
WSH 2024 OD starter: Josiah Gray
Guardians at Royals, 4:10 p.m. ET
Ben Lively (CLE, 1st): From 2015-24, only two pitchers started for Cleveland on Opening Day: Corey Kluber and Shane Bieber, who each took the turn five times during that decade-long span. It was set to be Tanner Bibee¡¯s turn in 2025, but the right-hander was scratched due to an illness hours before first pitch. Lively, who posted a 3.81 ERA over 29 starts for the Guardians in 2024, will get the nod in Bibee's place.
CLE 2024 OD starter: Shane Bieber
Cole Ragans (KC, 2nd): Starting the Royals¡¯ season opener a year ago, Ragans set a franchise record for strikeouts on Opening Day with nine K¡¯s against the Twins. It was a harbinger of things to come, as Ragans finished in the AL Cy Young Award voting, building on the promise he showed after joining Kansas City in the ¡¯23 trade that sent veteran reliever Aroldis Chapman to the Rangers. Over 44 starts in a Royals uniform, the 27-year-old Ragans owns a 3.00 ERA with 312 K¡¯s in 258 innings.
KC 2024 OD starter: Ragans
Mets at Astros, 4:10 p.m. ET
Clay Holmes (NYM, 1st): All of Holmes' 300 appearances since 2019 have come in relief, but he is making the transition to the rotation after signing a three-year, $38 million deal with the Mets. The right-hander, who has just four career starts in the Majors, will get an immediate test as New York's Opening Day starter. Holmes will be the first starting pitcher to make his Mets debut on Opening Day since Johan Santana in 2008.
NYM 2024 OD starter: Jose Quintana
Framber Valdez (HOU, 4th): Valdez will become the fifth pitcher in Astros history to start at least four consecutive Opening Day games, joining J.R. Richard (1976-80), Mike Scott (1987-91) Shane Reynolds (1996-2000), and Roy Oswalt (2003-10). Through his three previous Opening Day games, the left-handed Valdez has allowed three earned runs -- all coming last year against the Yankees -- over 16 1/3 innings.
HOU 2024 OD starter: Valdez
Giants at Reds, 4:10 p.m. ET
Logan Webb (SF, 4th): The Giants will give the ball to Webb on Opening Day for the fourth straight season. In the 2023 season opener, Webb struck out 12 batters against the Yankees, setting a franchise record for the most K's in an Opening Day game. The 28-year-old has earned Cy Young votes in each of the past three years, posting a collective 3.22 ERA over an MLB-leading 613 innings in that span. Webb will become the sixth pitcher in franchise history to make four straight Opening Day starts, joining Bill Voiselle (1944-47), Larry Jansen (1948-51), Juan Marichal (1964-69), Tim Lincecum (2009-12) and Madison Bumgarner (2014-17).
SF 2024 OD starter: Webb
Hunter Greene (CIN, 2nd): Greene will get another shot at Opening Day having garnered mixed results in his first attempt against the Pirates in 2023 (3 1/3 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 8 K's.) Two years later, the Reds are handing the ball to a guy coming off a breakout 2024 season in which he posted a 2.75 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP and 169 strikeouts over 150 1/3 innings and led all NL pitchers with a 6.3 bWAR. Greene will continue a stretch of 27 consecutive seasons in which a right-handed pitcher opens the season for Cincinnati. It marks the longest such active streak in MLB.
CIN 2024 OD starter: Frankie Montas
Braves at Padres, 4:10 p.m. ET
Chris Sale (ATL, 6th): Last season¡¯s NL Cy Young Award winner will get the ball on Opening Day for the first time since 2019 with the Red Sox. His six Opening Day starts are the most of any pitcher getting the nod this year and are tied for the fourth-most among active hurlers, trailing only Justin Verlander (12), Clayton Kershaw (9) and Max Scherzer (7).
ATL 2024 OD starter: Spencer Strider
Michael King (SD, 1st): King earns the nod on Opening Day after a fantastic first season with the Padres. Acquired from the Yankees in December 2023 as part of the Juan Soto trade, King finished among the top 10 last year in ERA (2.95, ninth), K/9 rate (10.4, eighth) and NL Cy Young voting (seventh). He will begin this season by facing a Braves team he dominated in Game 1 of last year's NL Wild Card Series. The right-hander struck out 12 batters and walked none over seven scoreless frames.
SD 2024 OD starter: Yu Darvish
Angels at White Sox, 4:10 p.m. ET
Yusei Kikuchi (LAA, 1st): Kikuchi's first season with the Angels will also bring his first Opening Day start. He's 2-2 with a 4.85 ERA in six career starts (29 2/3 innings) against the White Sox. Last season, he made one start against Chicago, allowing five hits and two earned runs over six innings in a loss. Overall last season, Kikuchi combined for 32 starts with the Blue Jays and Astros, compiling a 9-10 record and a 4.05 ERA.
LAA 2024 OD starter: Patrick Sandoval
Sean Burke (CWS, 1st): A year after the White Sox gave Garrett Crochet his first career start on Opening Day, Burke will get the ball with only three starts and four appearances under his belt. They all came after he debuted in September last season. A third-round Draft pick in 2021, Burke allowed a total of three earned runs in his three starts. He struck out 19 batters in those 16 innings and limited batters to a .581 OPS. Burke will be the first pitcher since the Dodgers' Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 to start on Opening Day with fewer than 20 career innings in the Majors.
CWS 2024 OD starter: Garrett Crochet
Pirates at Marlins, 4:10 p.m. ET
Paul Skenes (PIT, 1st): Skenes wasn¡¯t even in the Majors at the start of last season, but he didn¡¯t take long to establish himself as one of the best starters in the game after making his highly anticipated debut on May 11. The right-hander posted a 1.96 ERA with 170 strikeouts over 130 innings for Pittsburgh, earning NL Rookie of the Year honors and finishing third in the league¡¯s Cy Young race as a result. Now, he¡¯s set to become the Pirates' youngest Opening Day starting pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1900).
PIT 2024 OD starter: Mitch Keller
Sandy Alcantara (MIA, 5th): Alcantara¡¯s streak of four straight Opening Day starts (a franchise record for pitchers) came to an end last year, as he missed the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2023. Now healthy, the ¡®22 NL Cy Young Award winner is set to return to his typical spot atop the Marlins¡¯ rotation. Alcantara has posted a 2.31 ERA over 23 1/3 innings in his Opening Day starts.
MIA 2024 OD starter: Jes¨²s Luzardo
Twins at Cardinals, 4:15 p.m. ET
Pablo L¨®pez (MIN, 3rd): L¨®pez will be making his third consecutive Opening Day start for the Twins. He¡¯ll be the first Twins pitcher to start Opening Day for Minnesota in three or more straight seasons since Brad Radke made seven straight from 1999-2005. The Twins are looking to win at least three straight Opening Day games for the first time since 2001-04.
MIN 2024 OD starter: L¨®pez
Sonny Gray (STL, 4th): Gray has been phenomenal on Opening Day, allowing only one earned run through 20 innings. His most recent such start came with the Reds in 2020, and he struck out nine batters over six innings in a 7-1 victory. The 35-year-old will see some old friends when he matches up against the Twins. Gray had a solid two-season run with Minnesota before signing with St. Louis prior to the 2024 season. That included a runner-up finish for the AL Cy Young Award in 2023.
STL 2024 OD starter: Miles Mikolas
Tigers at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. ET
Tarik Skubal (DET, 2nd): The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner was an easy choice for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. Skubal began his historic 2024 season by allowing three hits and no walks over six scoreless innings in a Detroit victory on Opening Day. That win came against the White Sox. Skubal's first test in 2025 -- a road date versus the World Series champions -- is a can't-miss matchup. The Tigers will have a left-hander start on Opening Day for the sixth consecutive season, the longest active streak in MLB.
DET 2024 OD starter: Skubal
Cubs at D-backs, 10:10 p.m. ET
Zac Gallen (AZ, 3rd): Although they added a Cy Young Award winner to their rotation when they signed Corbin Burnes in the offseason, the D-backs will stick with Gallen as their Opening Day starter for the third straight year. Gallen will enter 2025 -- his final season before free agency -- with a lifetime 3.29 ERA over six seasons. The righty struggled against the Dodgers (5 R in 4 2/3 IP) in the 2023 season opener but held the Rockies to one run over five innings in an Opening Day win last season.
AZ 2024 OD starter: Gallen
Athletics at Mariners, 10:10 p.m. ET
Luis Severino (ATH, 2nd): Severino will get the call on Opening Day after signing the largest guaranteed contract in A¡¯s history in December. His first Opening Day start came in 2018 when he led the Yankees to a victory over the Blue Jays with 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Severino, who dealt with a plethora of injuries from 2019-23, had a bounceback season last year with the Mets, posting a 3.91 ERA across 182 innings.
ATH 2024 OD starter: Alex Wood
Logan Gilbert (SEA, 1st): While the Mariners had no shortage of impressive starting pitching performances in 2024, Gilbert managed to stand out. The right-hander led the Majors in innings (208 2/3) and WHIP (0.89) and posted a 3.23 ERA with a 5.95 K/BB ratio, earning a sixth-place finish in the AL Cy Young Award voting as a result. On the heels of that strong performance, he¡¯ll get a chance to make his first Opening Day start.
SEA 2024 OD starter: Luis Castillo
FRIDAY, MARCH 28
Rockies at Rays, 4:10 p.m. ET
Kyle Freeland (COL, 4th): After allowing 15 runs across his previous two Opening Day outings -- five against the Dodgers in 2022 and 10 against the D-backs in '24 -- Freeland will be looking to get his season started on a better note this year as he becomes the first pitcher in Rockies history to make four Opening Day starts.
COL 2024 OD starter: Freeland
Ryan Pepiot (TB, 1st): Pepiot will get the Opening Day start after the Rays announced Shane McLanahan will "miss some time" after leaving his final Spring Training start with left triceps tighness. Pepiot, who pitched with the Dodgers in 2022-23, has some familiarity with the Rockies, owning a 1.06 ERA in 17 career innings against them. Pepiot last faced Colorado on April 7, 2024, striking out 11 in six innings in a 3-2 Rays win at Coors Field.
TB 2024 OD starter: Zach Eflin