The Tigers, a team on the rise, will open their quest for a second consecutive playoff berth against the team at the top. That sight isn’t lost on the young players who led Detroit on an incredible late-season run last year to its first postseason berth in a decade.
When the Tigers take the field on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. ET/4:10 p.m. PT, they’ll be part of what should be an emotional day at Dodger Stadium. Though the Dodgers will have already opened their season with two games against the Cubs in Tokyo, their true home opener is big. Not only will it be the first time Los Angeles has taken the field there since winning the World Series at Yankee Stadium nearly five months ago, it’ll be the first time for the club on its home field since wildfires ravaged Southern California in January.
For a fan base that has had more than its fair share of hardship, seeing the Dodgers is a welcome return to normalcy, even when it comes with a matchup against an abnormal talent in Tigers ace and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. The Dodgers will counter with a two-time Cy Young winner of their own in Blake Snell, who will be making his regular-season debut for L.A. It is the only Opening Day matchup of Cy Young Award winners this season.
Tigers starter: LHP Tarik Skubal
Previous Opening Days started: 2024
2024 season: 18-4, 2.39 ERA, 192 IP, 142 H, 35 BB, 228 K
How fitting that Skubal, the Tigers’ great equalizer whom any team would love to have in a one-game scenario, will begin the encore to his incredible 2024 campaign by taking the mound against baseball’s Goliath and reigning World Series champions. The 2018 ninth-round Draft pick won the AL’s pitching Triple Crown last season and was the lone constant in the pitching chaos formula that manager A.J. Hinch leveraged down the stretch to a postseason berth.
Skubal has shown no signs of letting up from his dominant form this year. He threw a 100 mph fastball in his first Spring Training inning, polished his array of breaking pitches and furthered the changeup that flummoxed right-handed hitters so much last year that even fellow Cy Young winner Robbie Ray wanted to learn it.
“You get to face the reigning champs on Day 1,” Skubal said of the challenge. “You see how their offseason was and you see that lineup, it’ll be fun. And in their home park, too. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“You don’t know how many Opening Days you’re going to start in your career. It’s an honor to be able to start two of them.”
Skubal faced the Dodgers last July, striking out eight over six innings of two-run ball in a no-decision at Comerica Park. One of the runs was a Freddie Freeman solo homer.
Dodgers starter: LHP Blake Snell
Previous Opening Days started: 2023, 2019
2024 season: 5-3, 3.12 ERA, 104 IP, 65 H, 44 BB, 145 K
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the Dodgers' true Opening Day starter, making a homecoming start in Japan in the season-opening Tokyo Series against the Cubs. As for the domestic opener, it will be Snell getting the ball, manager Dave Roberts confirmed on Sunday.
“He was certainly honored, excited,” said Roberts. “Blake chose to be a Dodger for various reasons. And for him to start the home opener here at Dodger Stadium, I think it's just something else that he can add to his already great career.”
Snell signed a five-year, $182 million deal with Los Angeles this past offseason. He has made two Opening Day starts, one each with the Rays and the Padres. He has brought an immediate ace pedigree to a rotation full of pitchers who could anchor many other staffs across the Majors. Snell had a pair of Cactus League appearances for the Dodgers and also started an exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome on March 15, striking out seven and giving up a three-run home run in 4 1/3 innings.
For Snell, this is his second time matching up against a Cy Young winner on Opening Day, having started vs. Justin Verlander and the Astros for Tampa Bay in 2019. Snell was coming off his first Cy Young win; Verlander was embarking on what would be the second of three Cy Young campaigns.
"I can say one thing, but it’s going to be different when I walk out there," said Snell. "I can tell you I won't be thinking about Skubal at all, going against him. My only goal would be just dominate the zone, get us in the dugout so we can hit. That’s my only goal. I don't know. I would imagine I'll be excited, a little nervous, and then once I get out there, it’s just like, go show I love pitching and I can’t wait to pitch and compete."
Snell signed with the Giants last year at the end of Spring Training, then turned his season around after a rough first half that included two stints on the injured list. He posted a 3.12 ERA and struck out 145 across 104 innings over 20 starts. He’s glad to have gotten a full spring under his belt this time around.
“I'll be ready," said Snell. "I feel good. I feel like I've gotten better every outing, just the confidence that I have, and the belief behind the pitches that I’m throwing now, they’re all getting to where I want them."