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| For the third season in a row, RHP Nathan Eovaldi earned the Red Sox team nod. The decision had come to him or his left-wing Chris Sale, but with the news that Sale had a stress fracture in his rib cage, manager Alex Cora’s decision became illogical and the announcement was made on March 16. Evaldi finished fourth in the AL Cy Young vote in 2021 after going 11-9 with a 3.75 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 195 strike in 182 1/3 innings. The Red Sox opens the season on the road against the Yankees. |
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| Adding a free agent, LHP Eduardo Rodriguez will start the season opener with the Tigers. He signed a five-year, $77 million contract with Detroit before closing. Rodriguez threw 157 2/3 innings with a 4.74 ERA with the Red Sox last season. This will be his first start on opening day. One way or another, the Tigers had a fresh start to opening day this year after no-bid Matthew Boyd, who kicked off the 2020 and 2021 season openers. Detroit starts the season at home against the White Sox. |
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| RHP Jacob deGrom will not start his fourth opening day in the Mets after it was discovered he was suffering from a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder that would require him to shut down for four weeks. The Mets have not announced who will replace Degrom. Max Scherzer, the obvious candidate, deals with a hamstring problem. |
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| On March 23, the Reds announced that right-hand man Tyler Mahley would take the call. It’s the first opening day in the prime of his career. Mahley, 27, was 13-6 with a 3.75 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 210 strike in 180 innings last season. The Reds will open in Atlanta against defending champion Braves. |
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| Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Thursday, March 24, that Walker Buehler will be the opening day starter. This is Buehler’s first start in his career and he’s the Dodgers’ fourth open-day Novice since 2010. Clayton Kershaw has taken the job nine times, including in 2021, with Hyun-Jin Ryu in 2019 and Dustin May in 2020. Buehler , 27, finished fourth in the NL Cy Young vote last season when he was 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 212 strikes in 207 2/3 runs. He has grown into the role of a seasoned clerk in Los Angeles and this start gives him the appearance of an official coronation. |
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| Aaron Nola got Joe Girardi Velez’s approval on opening day. For Nola, this marked his fifth consecutive start on opening day, the longest streak by any Phillies pitcher since Hall of Famer Steve Carlton answered the bell 10 times in a row. Nola, 28, is coming off the 2021 season with a 4.63 ERA in 180 2/3 runs. He is a strong candidate for rebound in 2022, given his solid track record before 2021 of impressive performance and fundamental indicators. |
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| The club announced that Shohei Otani will be making his debut on opening day with the Angels. Otani will face the Houston Astros. In previous seasons, he had not thrown before the third game of the year. He twice started the Angels fourth match. Ohtani is coming off an MVP award winning season which saw him score 158 OPS+ and 141 ERA+ score. |
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| Just over a week into the opening, the Rays shot Shane McClanahan the start of Game 1. Southpaw made his MLB regular season debut last year on April 29. In 25 starts, he went 10-6 with 3.43 ERA and 141 strikes in 123 1/3 innings. He will be looking to continue his dominance over the Orioles, who were against McClanahan 4-0 with a 2.74 ERA in four games last year. |
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| What a difference it makes each year at the start of Giants Opening Day, Logan Webb. He entered the 2021 season as a back-to-back starter who is not expected to move the needle much. He is now looking to publish his second consecutive season at ace level. Webb went to 11-3 with a 3.03 ERA and served as the playoff ace for the Giants (0.61 ERA in two starts) in the NLDS. He’ll be looking forward to keeping the Marlins at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Friday, April 8. |
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| Having signed a free agent contract to play outside of Colorado for the first time in his MLB career, John Gray will start Opening Day for the third time. The Rangers newcomer was 8-12 with a 4.59 ERA for the last Rocky season, though his 4.22 FIP and 157 hits in 149 runs seem to suggest he’d enjoy his Denver escape. However, he faces a long request on April 8 against the Blue Jays in Toronto. |
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| NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes got the nod as the start of the 2022 opening day. This is the start of Burns’ career opening day, although it came as no surprise either. He was 11-5 with a 2.43 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 234 strikes in 167 runs, earning his first NL Cy Young in Brewers history (Rollie Fingers in 1981 and Pete Vuckovich in 1982 were AL winners). Burns takes the hill on April 7 at Wrigley Field against the Cubs. |
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| Lefty Framber Valdez, no former Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, will start the opening day for the Astros. The Astros are facilitating Verlander’s entry into action after Tommy John’s surgery and will start their third game of the season. This will be Valdez’s first career opening day. He threw 134 2/3 innings with a 3.14 ERA after a finger injury in 2021. Houston opens the season in Anaheim. |
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| For the second consecutive season, leftist Max Fried will start the opening match for world champion Braves. Charlie Morton was the other candidate to start opening day. Fried made 28 starts with a 3.04 ERA last season, and also won the playoff in the World Championships. He’s the first left-handed to start consecutive opening days for the Braves since Hall of Famer Warren Spahn started six straight days from 1957-1962. The brave open the season at home against the Reds. |
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| As expected, Gerrit Cole starts the opening day for the Yankees with $324 million. It will be his third opening match in a row. Last year, Cole reached a 3.23 ERA in 181 1/3 rounds, finishing second in the Cy Young vote. The Yankees start the season at home against the Red Sox. |
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| The Orioles will start John Maines on opening day. This will mark the start of the second consecutive opening day of the means. Last year, he threw a seven by one stroke against the Red Sox in a victory. |
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| The Blue Jays named Jose Perios as their opening day starter in his first full season with Toronto after coming on a mid-season deal from the Minnesota Twins. The Blue Jays have signed Berrios for a long-term extension during their vacation period. |
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| Padres Yu Darvish named as his opening day starter. This will be Darvish’s third opening day nod, and his second in a row with Padres. San Diego originally acquired Darvish from Cubs prior to last season. |
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| In a somewhat surprising decision, right-handed Joe Ryan, who still enjoys his rookie status intact, will start to twins on opening day. He’s coming off the 2021 season as he hit 4.05 ERA and 6.00 K/BB in five starts. Earlier this season, the twins took over Sonny Gray from the Reds, and it looks like they’ll get their first start to 2022. |
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| Ice Shane Bieber will be up front with the Guardians in their opening match in 2022. Bieber won the AL Cy Young award in 2020 and was the All-Star star last season before shoulder problems cost him multiple times. When healthy, he is one of the best beginner baseball bowlers. |
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| For the third year in a row, veteran right-hand man Kyle Hendricks will mark the start of the Cubs’ opening day. “It’s a great honor,” Hendricks said of Director David Ross’ decision. “For Rossi to make that decision and trust me, give me the ball, it’s been great for the past two years.” Hendricks is approaching the 2021 season as he reached 4.77 ERA in 181 runs. |
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| For the first time since Levan Hernandez in 2011, someone other than Max Scherzer or Stephen Strasbourg will start Opening Day for the Nationals. Lefty Patrick Corbin will get the ball rolling as Strasburg continues his rehabilitation from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. Last season, Corbin made 31 starts with a 5.82 ERA, and was one of the least effective bowlers in baseball. Washington opened the season at home against Scherzer’s Mets on April 7. |
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| As expected, Cy Young winner Robbie Ray will start the Nationals’ inaugural season. He signed a five-year, $115 million contract over the winter. Ray led the MLS in the innings (193 1/3), ERA (2.84) ERA+ (154), and strike (248) while with the Blue Jays last year. Lefty Marco Gonzalez kicked off the last three opening days for Seattle. The Mariners begin their regular season in Minnesota on April 7. |
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| The Pirates announced on April 3 that JT Brubaker would gain approval against the Cardinals. Brubaker, 28, will start his first career on opening day. Substitutes included Buccaneers Mitch Keeler and Jose Southbow veteran Jose Quintana. |
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| Fittingly, Zack Greinke will get the ball on opening day after his return to the Royal Family. Greinke played parts of seven seasons with Kansas City from 2004 to 2010, starting on opening day in 2010. This would be the start of his sixth inaugural career, and the fourth most among active shooters. Only Justin Verlander (12), Clayton Kershaw (nine) and Madison Baumgarner (eight) have more. Brad Keeler and Danny Duffy have started on Opening Day by rotating the Royal Family for the past four seasons. |
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| With Chris Bassett and Sean Manya trading, Frankie Montas will start the opening day of athletics, unless of course they trade them within the next few days as well. This will be his second career opening day, as he joins 2020. Team Skeleton A begins the season against the Phillies on April 8. |
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| Armed with a brand new contract extension, Sandy Alcantara will kick off his third consecutive opening day for Miami. Opening Day Three at Alcantara will begin to connect Josh Pickett, Josh Johnson and the late Jose Fernandez with the most in franchise history. The Marlins open the season in San Francisco on April 8. |
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| Adam Wainwright will start opening day in his final season. It will be his sixth opening day and first since 2016. Jack Flaherty, who is dealing with a shoulder injury, had started the first of his two openers for the previous two seasons. St. Louis begins the regular season at home against the Buccaneers on April 7. |
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| Denver’s Kyle Freeland will get the ball on opening day at Coors Stadium. German Marquez kicked off the opening final two days for Colorado. This will be Freeland’s start on her second career opening day, as she joins 2019. The Rockies will host the Dodgers to start the regular season. |
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| For the fourth consecutive season and the eighth time in the past nine seasons, Opening Day will begin with Madison Baumgarner. Only Justin Verlander (12) and Clayton Kershaw (nine) have more career opening day starts among active shooters. The D-Backs start the regular season at home against the Padres on April 7. |
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| Lance Lane’s recent knee injury opened the door for Lucas Giolito to start opening day for the third time in a row. Giolito will be the first right-winger to start three consecutive season-opening games with Chicago since Jack McDowell started four games in a row from 1991-1994. ChiSox will open the regular season in Detroit on April 8. |
