Baseball season kicks off in Chicago on Thursday when the Tigers face off against the White Sox on Opening Day. Two young up-and-comers get the ball in Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet.
The Tigers may not have rocketed themselves into the playoff picture this winter, but they tried, adding Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty to the rotation and Gio Urshela to the infield, as well as handing top prospect Colt Keith a nice extension and an Opening Day assignment. The White Sox, meanwhile, did not. They traded away Dylan Cease and picked up a few players like Chris Flexen and Paul DeJong, but suffice to say, it will be a long year on the South Side.
Here now is what you need to know before the Tigers and White meet on Opening Day at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Tigers vs. White Sox
Date: Thursday, March 28 | Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
Location: Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago, Illinois)
Live stream: Fubo (try for free), MLB.TV | TV: Bally Sports Detroit, NBC Sports Chicago
Probable pitchers: LHP Tarik Skubal (DET) vs. LHP Garrett Crochet (CHI)
Odds: DET -180; CHI +152; over/under: 8.0
Storylines
Tigers: The Tigers are at least interesting, which is not the worst thing compliment you can give. Skubal, the Opening Day starter, was among the best pitchers in baseball after he came back from flexor tendon surgery in July last year and is poised to repeat that, if not improve upon his numbers. Flaherty and Maeda give the rotation some stability and young Colt Keith may not be winning a Gold Glove any time soon, but his bat should more than make up for it. One of these years we'll see the old Javy Baéz, right? Right? Please?
White Sox: As previously mentioned, the White Sox are not playing to win this year. With the long-awaited Cease trade finally done, all eyes now look to the trade deadline, where odds are that some combination of Eloy Jiménez, Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert Jr. get flipped. And don't forget, the draft is a lottery now. But hey, maybe Andrew Benintendi can have a bounce-back season.
