Spring training is underway and Major League Baseball is scheduled to open the 2024 regular season on March 28. It is never too early to keep tabs on each team's Opening Day starter, of course. These announcements will come in throughout spring training and sometimes before camp even opens.
With that in mind, here is our living document chronicling every team's Opening Day starter situation. These announcements are tentative because sometimes things change due to injury, so check back regularly for updates. We'll have everything you need to know about Opening Day starters right here.
Before we get to the good stuff, here is the all-time Opening Day start leaderboard:
- Tom Seaver: 16
- Steve Carlton: 14
- Jack Morris: 14
- Randy Johnson: 14
- Walter Johnson: 14
While it's true that Opening Day counts for only one game in the standings, it's still an honor to be tabbed as the starting pitcher for that day. With that in mind, here's who's getting the ball in Game 1 around the league.
| |  |
| RHP Zac Gallen. After a season in which he started the All-Star Game and was the ace of the NL champs, taking two World Series starts, Gallen will toe the slab on Opening Day. Last season, he was 17-9 with a 3.47 ERA, finishing third in NL Cy Young voting. It will be his second consecutive Opening Day start. Arizona opens the regular season at home against the Rockies. | |
| |  |
| RHP Spencer Strider. Max Fried has started the last three Opening Days for the Braves, though the six-time defending NL East champs are not short on options and NL Cy Young frontrunner Strider gets the nod. Last season was his first full year in the rotation and he was 20-5 with a 3.86 ERA and 281 strikeouts. The Braves begin the 2024 season in Philadelphia. | |
| |  |
| RHP Corbin Burnes. Burnes, who arrived in a late offseason trade, has been the favorite for the honor since he was acquired from the Brewers. That's especially the case with incumbent ace Kyle Bradish dealing with an elbow injury. Manager Brandon Hyde announced Burnes as the starter on 3/10. Burnes in 2024 will be seeking his fifth straight top-10 finish in his league's Cy Young balloting. The O's will host the Angels to begin the regular season. | |
| |  |
| RHP Brayan Bello. The Chris Sale trade and Lucas Giolito injury opened the door for young Brayan Bello to start the season opener for Boston. Bello was 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA last season and signed a six-year contract extension this spring. The Red Sox start their season on the road in Seattle. | |
| |  |
| LHP Justin Steele. The 28-year-old Steele finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting last season, as he pitched to a 3.06 ERA and a 4.89 K/BB ratio in 173 1/3 innings. The Cubs begin their season on the road against the defending World Series champion Rangers. | |
| |  |
| LHP Garrett Crochet: With Dylan Cease traded, the Opening Day assignment will fall to Crochet, the White Sox announced on March 18. Crochet had a 3.55 ERA in 12 2/3 innings in his return from Tommy John surgery last season. He has spent his entire MLB career in the bullpen, though he started in college, and Chicago is giving him an opportunity to start in 2024. The White Sox open the new season at home against Detroit. | |
| |  |
| RHP Frankie Montas. The Reds named free-agent signee Frankie Montas the Opening Day starter in a bit of an upset over breakout candidate Hunter Greene. Montas finished sixth in Cy Young voting in 2021 and this will be his third Opening Day start, so he has the veteran pedigree here. Manager David Bell told reporters that experience was part of the decision (MLB.com). The Reds open against the Nationals. | |
| |  |
| RHP Shane Bieber. Bieber has started the last four Opening Days, so make it five straight Opening Day starts for the former Cy Young winner. He was 6-6 with a 3.80 ERA in 21 starts last year. The Guardians will be in Oakland to open 2024. | |
| |  |
| LHP Kyle Freeland. Freeland, a Denver native, was the obvious call here with Germán Márquez on the mend following Tommy John surgery. Freeland was 6-14 with a 5.03 ERA last season. It'll be his third Opening Day start. The Rockies will begin the new season in Arizona, against the defending NL champs. | |
| |  |
| LHP Tarik Skubal. The Tigers spent money on veteran free-agent pitchers this offseason and could have given the ball to Kenta Maeda or Jack Flaherty. but instead it will be Skubal, who had a 2.80 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings after returning from a flexor injury last year. The Tigers will be on Chicago's south side to face the White Sox to start the new season. | |
| |  |
| LHP Framber Valdez. It will be Valdez for the third straight Opening Day. Justin Verlander's achy shoulder took him out of the running -- Verlander was potentially in line for his 13th career Opening Day start, and his fourth with the Astros -- and Valdez was the obvious alternative. The 30-year-old southpaw had a 3.45 ERA in 198 innings in 2023. Houston will host the Yankees to open 2024. | |
| |  |
| LHP Cole Ragans. Ragans was a revelation after coming over in the Aroldis Chapman trade last summer and he will get the ball on Opening Day, the Royals announced on March 17. Free-agent additions Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha were the obvious alternatives. Ragans, 26, struck out 89 batters and had a 2.64 ERA in 12 starts and 71 2/3 innings after the trade last year. The Royals will be home against the Twins on Opening Day. | |
| |  |
| LHP Patrick Sandoval. For the first time since 2021, someone other than Shohei Ohtani will start Opening Day for the Angels. The southpaw was 7-13 with a 4.11 ERA in 28 starts last season. It'll be his first Opening Day start. The Halos will travel to Baltimore to start the new season. | |
| |  |
| RHP Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow, not Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will start Opening Day for the Dodgers. They of course begin the season with two games against the Padres in South Korea. Believe it or not, Glasnow will be Los Angeles' sixth different Opening Day starter in the last six years. The previous five: Clayton Kershaw (2018), Hyun-Jin Ryu (2019), Dustin May (2020), Walker Buehler (2021), and Julio Urías (2022). | |
| |  |
| LHP Jesús Luzardo. Sandy Alcantara's Tommy John surgery takes him out of the running, and that means Luzardo will be Miami's Opening Day starter. Luzardo, 26, is coming off a 2023 season in which he pitched to a 3.58 ERA with 208 strikeouts in 178 2/3 innings. The Marlins will welcome the Pirates to loanDepot Park to start the new season. | |
| |  |
| RHP Freddy Peralta. It will be the first career Opening Day assignment for Peralta. He had a 3.86 ERA with 210 strikeouts in 165 2/3 innings last season, and he will be the first pitcher other than Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff to start Opening Day for the Brewers since Jhoulys Chacín in 2019. Milwaukee will visit the Mets to begin the regular season. | |
| |  |
| RHP Pablo López. On Jan. 17, the Twins became the first team to announce their Opening Day starter. It will be López for the second-straight year. Acquired from the Marlins in the Luis Arraez trade, López had a 3.66 ERA and 234 strikeouts in 194 innings last year. That earned him a seventh place finish in the AL Cy Young voting. He will be the first Twins pitcher to start consecutive season openers since José Berríos from 2019-20. Minnesota will begin the new season in Kansas City. | |
| |  |
| LHP José Quintana. Manager Carlos Mendoza announced on March 13 that lefty José Quintana will get the nod. In 13 starts last season -- after missing more than half the year due to a stress fracture in his ribcage -- Quintana was 3-6 with a 3.57 ERA. This will the second Opening Day start of his career. He also did so with the White Sox in 2017. The Mets will welcome the Brewers to Queens to open 2024. | |
| |  |
| LHP Nestor Cortes. Reigning AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole is out with elbow issues, meaning he won't start a fifth straight Opening Day for New York. Instead, the Yanks landed on Nestor Cortes. The 29-year-old lefty is coming off a disappointing and injury-marred 2023 season in which he pitched to a 4.97 ERA in 12 starts. For his career, Cortes owns an ERA+ of 110. The Yankees will face Cole's former team, the Astros, in Houston on Opening Day. | |
| |  |
| LHP Alex Wood. The southpaw joins his fifth team in his 12th MLB season and though he has a small handful of Game 2 starts, this will be Wood's first nod on Opening Day. He was 5-5 with a 4.33 ERA for the Giants last season. The Athletics will host the Guardians on Opening Day. | |
| |  |
| RHP Zack Wheeler. Wheeler, who recently inked an extension with the Phillies, will snap Aaron Nola's streak of starting each of the last six Opening Days. The Phillies will welcome the NL East rival Braves to Philadelphia to start the new season. | |
| |  |
| RHP Mitch Keller. The same day his five-year extension was announced, the Pirates announced Keller as the Opening Day starter. It'll be his second straight. The Pirates hadn't had a pitcher start consecutive Opening Days since Francisco Liriano started three straight from 2014-16. Keller broke out once he added a sinker in the middle of 2022, and he went to his first All-Star Game last year. The Pirates will be in Miami to open 2024. | |
| |  |
| RHP Miles Mikolas. The Cardinals originally named offseason signee Sonny Gray as the Opening Day starter, but a spring training hamstring injury has hampered him and he won't be ready in time. This left the door open for Mikolas to make his third career Opening Day start after also having done so in 2019 and last season. The Cardinals open with the Dodgers. | |
| |  |
| RHP Yu Darvish. With reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell now a Giant, the Opening Day nod will go to Yu Darvish, not native San Diegan Joe Musgrove. Musgrove will start the second game of the regular season. This will be Darvish's third Opening Day start in four years with San Diego (also 2021 and 2022). The Padres and Dodgers will begin the 2024 season in South Korea for the Seoul Series from March 20-21. | |
| |  |
| RHP Logan Webb. It'll be Webb for the third straight season. He finished second to new teammate Blake Snell in the NL Cy Young voting a year ago when he was 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA in an MLB-best 216 innings. Webb and Giants will be in San Diego on Opening Day. | |
| |  |
| RHP Luis Castillo. For the second straight year, Castillo will be on the mound on Opening Day. George Kirby and Logan Gilbert would be Opening Day starters on more than a few other teams, just not these Mariners with the veteran All-Star Castillo in house. The Mariners will host the Red Sox to start the year. | |
| |  |
| RHP Zach Eflin. Shane McClanahan's Tommy John surgery and the Tyler Glasnow trade mean the Opening Day honors fall to Eflin. In his first season away from Philadelphia, Eflin was 16-8 with a 3.50 ERA for the Rays last year, finishing sixth in AL Cy Young voting. The Rays will be at home against the Blue Jays when the season begins. | |
| |  |
| RHP Nathan Eovaldi. Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer will begin the season on the injured list, so the Opening Day nod goes to postseason hero Eovaldi. The Rangers have had 14 different pitchers start the last 15 season openers (Cole Hamels did it in 2016 and 2018). Kevin Millwood from 2006-09 was the last Texas pitcher to start consecutive Opening Days. The reigning World Series champions begin 2024 at home against the Cubs. | |
| |  |
| RHP José Berríos. Kevin Gausman finished third in the AL Cy Young voting last season and was the obvious choice here, but he's dealing with a balky shoulder and Berríos gets the nod. This will be the fourth career Opening Day start for him. The Blue Jays will be in St. Petersburg to take on the Rays on Opening Day. | |
| |  |
| RHP Josiah Gray. "I feel like he deserves it," manager Davey Martinez said of Gray. It'll be the first Opening Day start for the 26-year-old right-hander. Last season, he was 8-13 with a 3.91 ERA in his 30 starts. The Nationals start 2024 in Cincinnati. | |
