The Braves winning the World Series is one of the most exciting moments of the year. There is a time and a place for it. The start of the MLB season is here! Beginning with seven Opening Day games on Thursday and continuing with the rest of MLB in action on Friday, it is time to welcome in a new year on the diamond. To celebrate baseball's return, we asked our experts to weigh in on what they are most excited to watch and make a fearless opening day prediction. Once the games begin, be sure to refresh this page early and often for our live updates and insights from every game on both Thursday and Friday. The season preview includes predictions and moves that made waves in the off-season.
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All times Eastern.
The Brewers are at the Cubs.
4:10 p.m.: Guardians (Bieber) at Royals (Greinke)
4:15 p.m.: Pirates (Brubaker) at Cardinals (Wainwright)
7:05 p.m. on ESPN+: Mets (TBD) at Nationals (Corbin)
8:00 p.m. on ESPN2: Reds (Mahle) at Braves (Fried)
9:38 p.m.: Astros (Valdez) at Angels (Ohtani)
9:40 p.m.: Padres (Darvish) at Diamondbacks (Bumgarner)
Friday's openers include the Red Sox,Yankees, White Sox,Tigers, A's-Phillies, Orioles,Rays, Dodgers,Rockies and Rangers.
What is your favorite thing to watch on opening day?
The Twins-Mariners series was pushed back a day because of the early spring weather. I can watch the debut of Bobby Witt Jr. in Kansas City on a screen of some sort on Thursday before I get to see Seattle's Julio Rodriguez on Friday. We haven't seen the most exciting prospects on opening day in a long time. There is a race for American League rookies of the year.
The debut of a Cubs player. He is a multiple-tool player with power to all fields and a rocket of an arm. Most rookies don't make a lot of money, but Suzuki signed a five-year, $85 million contract this winter, so he will be watched throughout the baseball world. He has a chance to be the next big star on the team. Thursday is his first chance to show fans what he has to offer.
The Padres are the most fascinating team to watch in April. A team that runs one of the highest payrolls in baseball and is coming off a losing season is under a lot of pressure. The Padres will have to play a couple of months without Fernando Tatis Jr because the rotation is healthy again. I want to see how Yu Darvish looks after he went 1-8 in the second half. I would like to see how the new manager sets up his late-game team. I want to see if Ha-Seong Kim can hit like he did in Korea after struggling in his debut season. I want to see which player shows up. The Padres have a golden opportunity to get off to a good start and put their disappointment behind them.
Joon Lee is with David on this one. The Padres are at a fascinating point in the tenure of their general manager with the injury of their best player and the level of financial investment in their core. According to multiple sources, the Padres club chemistry suffered under Jayce Tingler, so the addition of Melvin will change the dynamics of the locker room. I am interested to see which Darvish shows up on opening day and how the former Cy Young winner performs in his second season in San Diego after struggling to put up numbers like he did in his first. After the trade for Eric Hosmer fell through, the team will need its high-priced players to play better.
I am in Atlanta and I will be interested to see the reception for new first baseman Matt Olson. If anyone is going to take over from Freddie Freeman, he is the perfect candidate because of his local roots, his age, and his power. The Atlanta fans will go crazy if the magic script from last year&s World Series is still in play. What a story that would be.
Coley Harvey is excited to be joining the team in his hometown of Atlanta, where he will have a front-row seat for a coronation that has been a generation in the making. The 10-year-old inside me still cannot believe that one of the pro teams from his city is about to have another banner-raising night. The Atlanta United MLS title is the only thing we have. The City Too Busy To Hate should celebrate the World Series win one more time. Atlantans have worked hard.
I will be at Angel Stadium on Thursday, and I will be the luckiest of us all. Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound and in the lineup for the opener. The talk around Angels camp this spring centered on whether Ohtani can actually be better this year, given how he improved as a pitcher and how he grew comfortable with the two-way role as the season progressed. It seems impossible until you realize how special this man is.
The Mets got Max Scherzer to team with Jacob deGrom. Tylor Megill. Megill is the most non-Opening Day starter. Even though there is a chance that Montas could be traded before Friday, Oakland still has him. This might not mean a whole lot, but it feels like an omen since it's believed that Scherzer will be back soon.
Bobby Witt Jr., whose debut I will see in person, but the greatest show in sports is performing today on a different stage, is all due respect. For the first time this season, Shohei Ohtani spends his day hitting in the bottom half of the game and pitching in the top half. He will do that when he throws 100 mph pitches and hits 100 mph rockets. His magnificence knows no bounds. The Shohei Ohtani Rule, which allows him to remain in the game as a hitter after he's yanked as a pitcher, is a bonus treat on opening day.
What is your one Opening Day prediction that will come true?
Albert Pujols is going to hit a home run. Even if it is the only home run he hits all season, there is no way this won't happen. Many young fans in St. Louis have only heard about Pujols from their parents. They get to experience him this year as he moves on from a Hall of Fame career.
Suzuki will be the only hitter to get to Burnes. Right-handed opponents had a.179 batting average against him in 2021, while Chicago had little left-handed pop. The Cubs will be at a disadvantage against top righties this season because of the fact that they have a right-handed hitting player at first base and right field. Trying to hit against Burnes in 40 degree weather will be more difficult.
The Padres need him to hit from the get-go because they need him to get off to a slow start. He has only hit Madison Bumgarner seven times in his career, but three of them are home runs. I think he goes yard twice off MadBum as the Padres win their opener.
The opening week is here. Some of baseball's biggest names will be on the schedule for the first 888-400-5746 season.
Reds-Braves will be on the air.
The Red Sox andYankees are on the air.
KayRod Cast debuts on ESPN2
Jacob deGrom will not pitch on opening day, but this will be his last year with the Mets. There are too many variables involved for deGrom to return to the Mets, but Steve Cohen has shown he is ready and willing to invest in any way he feels can help the team. He claimed that he was opting out of his contract in spite of his injury as the first sign that he was headed elsewhere.
Rodriguez and Witt Jr. will hit home runs in their major league debuts. The two highlight what looks like a deep field of rookies, along with Spencer Torkelson. Adley and Riley will join them eventually. Not included in this list is Wander Franco, who will play in his first full season in 2022. He might be the biggest star of them all. The young talent in the sport is amazing, and I only accounted for one league.
Mike Trout is the best player in the sport. The eyes of the game will be on Ohtani to start, but by the end of the fourth or fifth, it will be Trout.
Shohei Ohtani will come out of the gates strong on opening day, showing that last year was not a mirage and that it is possible to pitch and hit at a high level across multiple seasons.
Austin Riley's Grapefruit League showing was not the best, but I am expecting him to have a big opening night. He will be playing at Truist Park for the first time since the World Series. He hit.409 at home last year with five extra-base hits. He will use that hitting success to give fans late-inning magic in front of another loud and frenzied Atlanta crowd.
Passan: Last time we saw Max Fried, he was throwing six shut outs for Atlanta in a World Series-clinching game. He had the lowest second-half ERA of any pitcher. Fried gets the ball against the Reds in front of a crowd that is ready to celebrate the world champion. He will have a pitching line that will be 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 1 walk and 9 strikeouts, and he will be in Cy Young contention throughout the season.
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