Below you will find every starting pitcher for each team in Game 1 of the 2026 season, as confirmed by Major League Baseball on Friday. Noted in parentheses is how many times that pitcher has started on Opening Day, including the upcoming '26 start.
Note: The Padres have yet to name an Opening Day pitcher.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25
Yankees at Giants, 8:05 p.m. ET
Yankees: Max Fried (4th): With both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón out of commission to start the season, there wasn't much doubt the Yankees would hand the ball to Fried, the club's clear No. 1 starter for much of his first season in New York. Fried is 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in three previous Opening Day starts with the Braves from 2021-23 and will be the third different left-handed Opening Day starter the Yankees have tabbed in as many seasons (Rodón in 2025, Nestor Cortes in '24), a quirky franchise first.
NYY 2025 OD starter: Rodón
Giants: Logan Webb (5th): Webb is set to get the ball on Opening Day for a fifth straight season, trailing only Juan Marichal (six) for the most consecutive season-opening starts in Giants franchise history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Webb is 0-1 with a 3.91 ERA and 25 strikeouts across 23 innings in his four previous starts in a season opener.
SF 2025 OD starter: Logan Webb
THURSDAY, MARCH 26
Pirates at Mets, 1:15 p.m. ET
Pirates: Paul Skenes (2nd): For the second straight year, the Pirates will give the ball to Skenes on Opening Day, which comes as no surprise after the right-hander won NL Cy Young Award honors in 2025. Manager Don Kelly made the announcement one day after Skenes returned from the World Baseball Classic, where he helped Team USA to a second-place finish.
PIT 2025 OD starter: Paul Skenes
Mets: Freddy Peralta (3rd): The centerpiece of the Mets' offseason trade with Milwaukee, Peralta will be his team's Opening Day starter for the third consecutive season. He got the nod with the Brewers in 2024 and 2025, coincidentally facing New York clubs each time. He lost to the Yankees last year and defeated the Mets in '24. The right-hander allowed only one hit and struck out eight batters over six innings in that victory. Through 11 Opening Day innings, Peralta has allowed three earned runs, two walks and has racked up 16 K's.
NYM 2025 OD starter: Clay Holmes
White Sox at Brewers, 2:10 p.m. ET
White Sox: Shane Smith (1st): The White Sox selected Smith with the first pick in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft after the right-hander was left unprotected by the Brewers. Now, following a good rookie year that included an All-Star nod, Smith will face the Brewers on Opening Day. He did see Milwaukee once last season and allowed one earned run over five innings in a no-decision on April 30.
CHW 2025 OD starter: Sean Burke
Brewers: Jacob Misiorowski (1st): Milwaukee traded Freddy Peralta, its Opening Day starter each of the past two years, in the offseason, which cleared the way for the 23-year-old Misiorowski to take the ball. Misiorowski posted a 4.36 ERA in 15 appearances (14 starts) during his rookie season, showing flashes of brilliance and even making the NL All-Star team after just five career starts, the earliest invitation in history.
MIL 2025 OD starter: Freddy Peralta
Nationals at Cubs, 2:20 p.m. ET
Nationals: Cade Cavalli (1st): Cavalli, who missed most of the past three years while recovering from 2023 Tommy John surgery, gets the Opening Day start for Washington with just 53 big league innings under his belt. Last season, the 27-year-old right-hander recorded a 4.25 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP across 48 2/3 innings (10 starts).
WSH 2025 OD starter: MacKenzie Gore
Cubs: Matthew Boyd (3rd): Boyd gets the ball first for the Cubs after representing the club as a first-time All-Star in his age-34 season last year. He will be the third consecutive left-hander to start on Opening Day for the North Siders, following Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga in 2024 and '25, respectively. Boyd's two previous Opening Day starts came with the Tigers in 2020 and '21. In that latter game, he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a victory over Cleveland.
CHC 2025 OD starter: Imanaga
Twins at Orioles, 3:05 p.m. ET
Twins: Joe Ryan (2nd): Ryan's first Opening Day nod (4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR allowed) was also his sixth career Major League start, way back in 2022; his second will follow his first All-Star season in which he led the Twins in wins (13), innings pitched (171) and strikeouts (194).
MIN 2025 OD starter: Pablo López
Orioles: Trevor Rogers (1st): After spending much of the first half of the 2025 season in the Minors, Rogers was a constant in Baltimore's rotation by mid-June and ended up being one of the most effective starters in the league. He posted a 1.81 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP through 109 2/3 innings. Rogers will be the fifth different Opening Day starter for the O's in the past five years, and he's the first left-hander to get the nod since John Means in 2021 and '22.
BAL 2025 OD starter: Zach Eflin
Red Sox at Reds, 4:10 p.m. ET
Red Sox: Garrett Crochet (3rd): Alex Cora wasted no time, naming Crochet on Feb. 10. This will be two years in Boston and two Opening Day starts for Crochet. He will be the fourth pitcher to start Opening Day in each of his first two seasons with the Red Sox, joining 1998-99 Pedro Martínez (did so in all seven seasons with Boston), 1976-77 Ferguson Jenkins and 1923-24 Howard Ehmke.
BOS 2025 OD starter: Crochet
Reds: Andrew Abbott (1st): With ace Hunter Greene out until at least July, the Reds tabbed Abbott as their Opening Day starter on March 8. The 26-year-old left-hander is coming off a breakout season, one in which he tied for ninth in the Majors in ERA (2.87) and ranked sixth in Baseball-Reference WAR (5.6).
CIN 2025 OD starter: Greene
Angels at Astros, 4:10 p.m. ET
Angels: José Soriano (1st): Soriano draws his first Opening Day nod on the heels of a 31-start season in 2025. The right-hander dominated the Astros last season, allowing just one run in 13 2/3 innings across two starts. Soriano will become the ninth different pitcher to start on Opening Day for the Angels in the last 10 seasons.
LAA 2025 OD starter: Yusei Kikuchi
Astros: Hunter Brown (1st): Coming off a third-place finish in the AL Cy Young Award race a year ago, Brown will get the ball on Opening Day for the first time in his career. Framber Valdez, who signed with the Tigers in free agency, started the previous four season openers for the Astros.
HOU 2025 OD starter: Valdez
Tigers at Padres, 4:10 p.m. ET
Tigers: Tarik Skubal (3rd): Skubal will kick off his quest for a third straight AL Cy Young Award by making his third consecutive Opening Day start for the Tigers. The last Tigers pitcher to make at least three straight Opening Day starts? Justin Verlander, who is now Skubal's teammate after signing a one-year deal to return to the Tigers on Feb. 10. Verlander started seven straight season openers for Detroit from 2008-14.
DET 2025 OD starter: Skubal
Padres: TBA
SD 2025 OD starter: Michael King
Rays at Cardinals, 4:15 p.m. ET
Rays: Drew Rasmussen (1st): The Rays have tabbed Rasmussen as their Opening Day starter after he recorded a 2.76 ERA over 31 starts in 2025, completing a remarkable comeback from his third major elbow surgery. Rasmussen, who underwent an internal brace procedure to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow in July 2023, was limited to 24 appearances (12 starts) across '23-24.
TB 2025 OD starter: Ryan Pepiot
Cardinals: Matthew Liberatore (1st): Liberatore draws his first career Opening Day nod in what will be just his second season as a full-time starting pitcher. Last year, the 26-year-old left-hander made 29 starts and pitched to a 4.21 ERA in 151 2/3 innings. Liberatore is set to become the first southpaw to start on Opening Day for the Cardinals since Donovan Osborne in 1999.
STL 2025 OD starter: Sonny Gray
Rangers at Phillies, 4:15 p.m. ET
Rangers: Nathan Eovaldi (6th): Eovaldi will take the ball on Opening Day for the Rangers for the third straight season, manager Skip Schumaker announced March 15. The veteran right-hander is coming off an excellent 2025, pitching to a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts. The Rangers had an enviable choice between Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom to start Opening Day in Philadelphia but opted to have deGrom start their home opener April 3 against the Reds instead.
TEX 2025 OD starter: Eovaldi
Phillies: Cristopher Sánchez (1st): On the heels of a dominant season when Sánchez finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting to Paul Skenes, the talented Dominican left-hander gets his first Opening Day start. In 202 innings last season, Sánchez posted a 2.50 ERA and struck out 212 batters. Zack Wheeler, who will begin the season on the injured list, started Opening Day in 2024-25, while Aaron Nola started the previous six opening games.
PHI 2025 OD starter: Wheeler
D-backs at Dodgers, 8:30 p.m. ET
D-backs: Zac Gallen (4th): The D-backs originally announced Merrill Kelly as their Opening Day starter on Feb. 14, but the right-hander won't be ready for the season opener after dealing with a back injury during camp. In his stead, Arizona turns to Gallen, who will draw his fourth consecutive Opening Day start after re-signing with the team on a one-year deal last month. He'll be the first D-backs pitcher to make four straight Opening Day starts since Brandon Webb (2006-09).
AZ 2025 OD starter: Gallen
Dodgers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2nd): The Dodgers will open their bid for a third straight World Series title exactly how they began -- and ended -- their 2025 championship triumph: with Yamamoto on the mound. The Japanese righty finished third in the NL Cy Young Award race last season and also earned World Series MVP honors after going 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA over 17 2/3 innings in the Fall Classic -- picking up the win as a starter in Games 2 and 6 before coming out of the bullpen to close out Game 7. Now, he'll get his second consecutive Opening Day assignment.
LAD 2025 OD starter: Yamamoto
Guardians at Mariners, 10:10 p.m. ET
Guardians: Tanner Bibee (1st): Bibee was originally scheduled to be Cleveland’s Opening Day starter last season, but he was scratched due to a case of acute gastroenteritis, forcing the club to switch to Ben Lively at the last minute. Bibee gets a second opportunity at his first career Opening Day start after leading the Guardians' staff with a career-high 182 1/3 innings in 2025 and tying Gavin Williams for the most starts (31).
CLE 2025 OD starter: Lively
Mariners: Logan Gilbert (2nd): This marks Gilbert’s second straight Opening Day start, no small feat in a talented Mariners rotation with names like Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Luis Castillo. In his first Opening Day start last year, Gilbert allowed one run in seven innings against the A’s, striking out eight hitters while only allowing two hits (no walks). Before Gilbert, Castillo started the previous two Opening Day starts.
SEA 2025 OD starter: Gilbert
FRIDAY, MARCH 27
Athletics at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m. ET
Athletics: Luis Severino (3rd): After being awarded his first Opening Day start since 2018 last year, Severino will be the first A's pitcher to make two in a row since Kendall Graveman in 2017-18. The right-hander has yet to give up a run on Opening Day coming into the 2026 season, working on 11 2/3 scoreless innings over which he's allowed four hits, walked seven and struck out 13.
ATH 2025 OD starter: Severino
Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (3rd): Gausman gets the Opening Day nod for the first time in his five seasons with the Blue Jays. He previously was the Opening Day starter for the Orioles in 2017 and the Giants in 2021, compiling an 0-0 record and a 2.25 ERA across 12 innings.
TOR 2025 OD starter: José Berríos
Rockies at Marlins, 7:10 p.m. ET
Rockies: Kyle Freeland (5th): Freeland will start Colorado's opener for the third consecutive season. His first Opening Day start actually came in 2019 in Miami, when he earned the win and tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Marlins. Freeland already has the most Opening Day starts in Rockies franchise history.
COL 2025 OD starter: Kyle Freeland
Marlins: Sandy Alcantara (6th): The Marlins will hand the ball to Alcantara for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, extending a long-held club record -- no other pitcher in Marlins history has made more than three Opening Day starts (Josh Beckett, 2003-05; Josh Johnson, 2010-12).
MIA 2025 OD starter: Alcantara
Royals at Braves, 7:15 p.m. ET
Royals: Cole Ragans (3rd): Ragans will get a third shot at Opening Day having pitched in a pair of hard-luck losses in 2024 (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER) and 2025 (5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER). He will be the first player to make three consecutive Opening Day starts for the Royals since Gil Meche did the same from 2007-09.
KC 2025 OD starter: Ragans
Braves: Chris Sale (7th): Sale will make his second Opening Day start as a member of the Braves, having made three for the White Sox (2013-14, '16) and another two for the Red Sox (2018-19). The veteran left-hander is 3-1 with a 4.00 ERA in his career on Opening Day; in his last go-round in 2025, he turned in five innings of three-run ball against the Padres with a walk and seven strikeouts.
ATL 2025 OD starter: Sale