2025 MLB Opening Day starter tracker: Rays replace injured Shane McClanahan, Paul Skenes gets call for Pirates

Major League Baseball’s 2025 Opening Day is less than a week away. As such, it is never too early to keep tabs on each team’s Opening Day starter. These announcements have come in throughout spring training, but there are still plenty of decisions to be made.

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:

1. Tom Seaver: 16
2. Steve Carlton: 14
3. Jack Morris: 14
4. Randy Johnson: 14
5. 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.

Zac Gallen has started the last two Opening Days for the D-backs and now he’ll get a third, beating out the newly signed Corbin Burnes for the honor. Gallen went 14-6 for the Diamondbacks in 2024, putting up 3.65 ERA in his fifth full season with the team. The D-backs will host the Cubs to begin 2025.

(Sacramento) Athletics: Luis Severino

The A’s have used six different Opening Day starters in the last seven years and this year will make it seven in eight years. Luis Severino gets the ball after signing a three-year, $67 million contract that is the largest in franchise history. The A’s will begin the season on the road against the Mariners. Their first home game in Sacramento will be Monday, March 31, against the Cubs. 

It would have been a surprise if it was anyone but reigning NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale. No surprises here. Sale has made five career Opening Day starts between the White Sox (2013-14, 2016) and Red Sox (2018-19). Last year he threw 177 ⅔ innings with an MLB-leading 2.38 ERA. He struck out an NL-best 225 batters. The Braves will open 2025 on the road against the Padres. Spencer Strider, who is coming off UCL surgery, started Opening Day for Atlanta in 2025.

With Corbin Burnes leaving as a free agent and no big-name starter imported to replace him, Eflin seemed likely to get the Opening Day start for the O’s. Sure enough, he will. Acquired from the Rays at least summer’s deadline, Eflin had a 2.60 ERA in 55 ⅓ innings for the Orioles. This will be his second consecutive Opening Start, as he received the honors for Tampa Bay last year. The O’s will be in Toronto to face the Blue Jays on Opening Day.

Offseason trade pickup and new Boston ace Garrett Crochet gets the call. Crochet had a terrific first year as a big-league starter, striking out 209 batters with a 3.58 ERA in 146 innings for the White Sox. That earned him a spot in the All-Star Game. The Red Sox acquired the lefty in a December five-team swap with Chicago. The Red Sox will begin the regular season in Texas against the Rangers. Brayan Bello started Opening Day for the BoSox last season

Imanaga will indeed get the nod in his home country when the Cubbies begin the new season with two games against the Dodgers in Tokyo from March 18-19. The team announced it Feb. 18. Imanaga threw 173 ⅓ innings with a 2.91 ERA in 2024, and finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting and fifth in the Cy Young voting. He’ll be be Chicago’s fourth different Opening Day starter in four years, and this will represent his first Opening Day start in just his second season in MLB.

Garrett Crochet, last year’s Opening Day starter and breakout player, was traded over the winter. The Opening Day assignment instead goes to rookie Sean Burke, who has thrown just 19 innings in the majors. In four MLB games last year (three starts), Burke struck out 22 of the 76 batters he faced and allowed three earned runs. The ChiSox will host the Angels on Opening Day as they look to improve upon last year’s historic 121-loss season.

Although Nick Martinez had a terrific 2024, the young ace Greene will get the Opening Day nod after finishing eighth in the NL Cy Young voting a year ago. He started the season opener for Cincinnati in 2023. Frankie Montas, now with the Mets, was their Opening Day starter in 2024. The Reds will take on the Giants at home to begin the new season. The 25-year-old Greene last season had a 2.75 ERA in 26 starts. His 6.3 WAR led all NL pitchers. 

Shane Bieber started the last five Opening Days for Cleveland, and although he re-signed with the club this offseason, he is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and won’t be available for the season opener. Bieber’s injury made Bibbee, the club’s best pitcher last year and their No. 1 starter in the postseason, the obvious candidate to start Game 1. Guardians manage Stephen Vogt made it official on March 19. The Guardians will be in Kansas City to play the Royals on Opening Day.

Kyle Freeland and Germán Márquez have combined to start the last six Opening Days for Colorado (three apiece). Make it seven and give Freeland the lead, as he’ll get the ball to start 2025. The Rockies will visit the Rays to begin the new season. That will be the first MLB regular-season game played in George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa’s home for 2025.

It was only a matter of time until manager A.J. Hinch made it official and named the reigning AL Cy Young winner the club’s Opening Day starter. He did so on Feb. 26, calling it “the easiest decision a manager has to make.” Skubal started Opening Day last season, then followed that up by throwing 192 innings with a 2.39 ERA and an MLB-leading 228 strikeouts en route to earning the league’s top pitching honors. The Tigers and Skubal will be in Los Angeles to face the Dodgers on Opening Day.

Framber Valdez will make his fourth straight Opening Day start for the Astros. He will be the first pitcher to start four consecutive season-openers for Houston since Roy Oswalt made eight straight from 2003-10. Valdez had a 2.91 ERA in 176 ⅓ innings in 2024. He will be a free agent after the 2025 season. The Astros will begin the new season at home against the Mets.

Cole Ragans beat out Seth Lugo to earn his second consecutive Opening Day start after finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young voting last year. The Royals will host the AL Central-rival Guardians on Opening Day.

You don’t give Kikuchi three years and $63 million and then not start him on Opening Day, right? Not according to manager Ron Washington, who called it an “obvious” choice when he announced the decision on Feb. 20. The Angels will be on Chicago’s South Side to take on the White Sox on Opening Day. Kikuchi threw 175 2/3 innings with a 4.05 ERA for the Blue Jays and Astros last season.

The Dodgers had no shortage of Opening Day worthy starters. Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, may have had a leg up under normal circumstances. But, since the Dodgers will open the season with two games against the Cubs in Tokyo (March 18-19), they are expected to go with Yamamoto. Newcomer and fellow Japanese native Roki Sasak will start the second game of that series. 

With his Tommy John surgery rehab complete, Alcantara, the 2022 NL Cy Young winner was the odds-on favorite to start the first game of the new season for the stripped-down Marlins, and he got the gig on Feb. 13. He started Opening Day four straight years from 2020-23 and will now start a new streak in 2025. Alcantara had a 4.14 ERA in 184 ⅔ innings in 2023, his last healthy season. He did not pitch at all in 2024. The Marlins will host the Pirates on Opening Day.

It will be Peralta for the second straight year, he confirmed to MLB.com on Feb. 13. “I was in the hallway yesterday, coming back from working out, and (manager Pat Murphy) just told me,” Peralta said. He started Opening Day last season and was the Game 1 starter in the postseason for the defending NL Central champs. Peralta had a 3.68 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 173 ⅔ innings in 2024. The Brewers will be in New York to play the Yankees on Opening Day.

On Jan. 22, Rocco Baldelli became the first manager to announce his Opening Day starter. He confirmed it will be López for the third consecutive season on the Inside Twins radio show (via the Star Tribune). López has a 3.87 ERA with 432 strikeouts in 379 ⅓ innings in two years with the Twins since coming over in the Luis Arraez trade with the Marlins. He will be the first Twins pitcher to make three consecutive Opening Day starts since Brad Radke made seven straight from 1999-2005. The Twins will begin the new season on the road against the Cardinals.

The Mets have had four different Opening Day starters in the last four years and it will become five in five in 2025. Sean Manaea, who returned to the team on a three-year contract worth $75 million, was the most logical choice prior to the oblique injury that will cause him to miss the start of the season. The Mets will instead turn to Holmes, a free-agent signing who is attempting to transition to the rotation from the bullpen. Juan Soto and the Mets will be in Houston to play the Astros on Opening Day.

Gerrit Cole‘s Tommy John surgery put New York’s Opening Day plans in a blender. The Game 1 start will instead go to Rodón, manager Aaron Boone announced on March 14, not marquee free-agent addition Max Fried. Fried will start Game 2 because the Yankees did not want to alter his schedule so late in the spring to line him for Opening Day. This will be Rodón’s second career Opening Day start (also 2019 with White Sox). Cole missed last Opening Day with a nerve issue in his elbow, and the since-traded Nestor Cortes started the season opener instead. The Yankees will host the Brewers to begin the new season.

Aaron Nola’s run of six straight Opening Day starts came to an end last season, when Wheeler was given the ball in Game 1. He’ll take it again this year. Wheeler is entering for the first year of his three-year, $126 million extension. He was the NL Cy Young runner-up last year thanks to a 2.57 ERA and 224 strikeouts in 200 innings. The Phillies will be on the road to face the Nationals on Opening Day.

Mitch Keller started the last two Opening Days for the Pirates, but theyoung ace Skenes has now taken over. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft was named NL Rookie of the Year last year, and he finished third in the NL Cy Young voting. He arrived in May and threw 133 innings with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts. Skenes and the Pirates will be in Miami to take on the Marlins on Opening Day.

Sonny Gray was announced as the club’s Opening Day starter last year, then a hamstring injury during spring training forced the Cardinals to pivot to Miles Mikolas. Manager Oli Marmol will try again this year. Gray has made three career Opening Day starts with the Athletics (2014-15) and Reds (2020). St. Louis will face the Twins, one of Gray’s former teams, in the season opener.

Yu Darvish has started three of the last four Opening Days for San Diego, but it’s Michael King‘s turn now. He was a revelation for the Padres in 2024, his first year as a full-time starter and they’ll need him to keep that up this year. They will host the Braves on Opening Day.

With all due respect to future Hall of Famer and new Giant Justin Verlander, there was never any reason to think it would be anyone but Webb on Opening Day. It was made official on Feb. 21. This will be Webb’s fourth straight Opening Day start. He finished sixth in the NL Cy Young voting last season after pitching to a 3.47 ERA in an NL-leading 204 2/3 innings in 2024. The Giants will be on the road to take on the Reds in Game 1 of the new season.

Luis Castillo has started the last two season openers for Seattle, but Logan Gilbert will get the Opening Day assignment for 2025. The 27-year-old right-hander is coming off a 2024 season in which he put up an ERA+ of 113 while leading the majors in innings and WHIP. The Mariners will open the 2025 regular season at home against the A’s.

The Rays were all set to add a big arm to their rotation this year when McClanahan returned from Tommy John surgery, and had awarded him with his third career Opening Day start (also 2022-23). Alas, he went down on March 22, his final tune-up before the regular season, with left triceps tightness. While they await word on the severity, the Rays will turn instead to Ryan Pepiot, who went 8-8 with a 3.60 ERA in 2024, his first in Florida after being acquired from the Dodgers. The Rays will host the Rockies at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Opening Day.

Incredibly, the Rangers have not had a pitcher start consecutive Opening Days since Kevin Millwood started four straight from 2006-09. That will change this year as Nathan Eovaldi, last year’s Game 1 starter, gets the ball again. He rejoined Texas on a three-year, $75 million contract this offseason. The Rangers will take on the Red Sox at home on Opening Day.

José Berríos, who started Game 1 for Toronto in 2022 and 2024, will do so again in 2025. The Blue Jays will host the Orioles on Opening Day.

Last year was the first time since Livan Hernandez in 2011 that someone other than Patrick Corbin, Max Scherzer, or Stephen Strasburg started Opening Day for the Nationals. MacKenzie Gore will continue that trend when he takes the ball for Game 1. The Nationals will begin the new season at home against the Phillies.