It's the one day on the baseball calendar where fans of even the most hapless clubs have hope. Thursday marks the start of MLB's 2024 season.
All 30 MLB teams were scheduled to play today, but some of those games will not occur. The Mets opener with the Brewers and the Phillies premiere versus the Braves were both pushed to Friday due to a persistent rain storm on the East Coast.
For two MLB teams — the Padres and Dodgers — they already have a win and a loss in the standings. MLB sent the two California clubs to Korea for a two-game regular season series. The games marked the ninth time in MLB history the season kicked off outside the U.S. and Canada.
Eight of the 30 clubs will take the field with new managers at the helm. Those teams include the Astros, Angels, Guardians, Padres, Brewers, Mets, Cubs and Giants.
The Texas Rangers enter the 2024 season as defending champs, but it's hard to consider them favorites to repeat this season. Starting pitchers Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle are all on the disabled list to start the season, and all three are not expected to return until close to the second half of the year.
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The Atlanta Braves had the best record in the regular season last year, winning 104 games. Their pitching staff, which was led last year by Spencer Strider, appears even stronger this year. The Braves picked up veteran starter Chris Sale from the White Sox. Atlanta also picked up Reynaldo Lopez to strengthen its bullpen.
The Baltimore Orioles had the best record in 2023 among American League clubs. A big part of Baltimore's success in 2023 was because of the emerging performance of starting pitcher Kyle Bradish. The young pitcher, however, begins the season on the disabled list and will likely miss at least the first month.
The Los Angeles Dodgers also come in as one of the favorites this year after winning 103 games a season ago. They also have gotten stronger in some respects, picking up Shohei Ohtani from the Angels. Although Ohtani is not expected to pitch this year, his bat could provide yet another spark to the middle of Los Angeles' lineup.
The Dodgers pitching staff looks to get a major lift from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who made his MLB debut during the Korea Series against the Padres. Yamamoto's debut was cut short after one inning, however, after an ineffective outing for the 25-year-old.
The Athletics' season opener against the Guardians today might be the last Opening Day for Oakland. The franchise is weighing its options as it awaits a new ballpark in Las Vegas to be completed. The A's may remain in Oakland for several more years as construction on a new ballpark goes on, but the club and MLB have been looking at other sites to host the team.
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