Welcome to MLB Opening Day, one of the most highly anticipated events on the sports calendar.
All 30 MLB clubs were slated to play on the same day, Thursday, March 28, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, who officially began the 2024 season by splitting a pair of games last week in Seoul, South Korea.
Mother Nature has already put a wrench into the MLB’s preparations, forcing the postponement of two games: the Milwaukee Brewers vs. the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. Rain is also expected to disrupt a third game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Baltimore Orioles.
The Arizona Diamondbacks will face the Colorado Rockies at 7:10 p.m. to defend their National League pennant. The gates at Chase Field open at 5 p.m. Kurt Warner, Cardinals Hall of Fame quarterback, is slated to throw out the first pitch.
Here’s all you need know about MLB Opening Day 2024:
When is MLB Opening Day?
Opening Day 2024 in Major League Baseball is Thursday, March 28.
How can I watch the Diamondbacks’ opening day game?
The Diamondbacks’ season-opening game against the Colorado Rockies begins at 7:10 p.m. The team stated that there are only a limited number of tickets available, and there is always the secondary (resale) market.
The game will be aired in several ways. On Thursday morning, the Diamondbacks announced the following outlets for the 2024 MLB season:
What is the MLB 2024 Opening Day Schedule?
Here’s the MLB 2024 Opening Day schedule, with scheduled starting pitchers and, when relevant, national TV availability (all times MST):
- Los Angeles Angels (Patrick Sandoval) vs. Baltimore Orioles (Corbin Burnes), 12:05 p.m.
- Washington Nationals (Josiah Gray) vs. Cincinnati Reds (Frankie Montas), 1:10 p.m.
- Detroit Tigers (Tarik Skubal) vs. Chicago White Sox (Garrett Crochet), 1:10 p.m.
- Minnesota Twins (Pablo Lopez) vs. Kansas City Royals (Cole Ragans), 1:10 p.m.
- New York Yankees (Nestor Cortes Jr.) vs. Houston Astros (Framber Valdez), 1:10 p.m.
- Pittsburgh Pirates (Mitch Keller) vs. Miami Marlins (Jesus Luzardo), 1:10 p.m.
- San Francisco Giants (Logan Webb) vs. San Diego Padres (Yu Darvish), 1:10 p.m.
- Toronto Blue Jays (Jose Berrios) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (Zach Eflin), 1:10 p.m.
- St. Louis Cardinals (Miles Mikolas) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow), 1:10 p.m.
- Chicago Cubs (Justin Steele) vs. Texas Rangers (Nathan Eovaldi), 4:45 p.m.
- Cleveland Guardians (Shane Bieber) vs. Oakland Athletics (Alex Wood), 7:07 p.m.
- Boston Red Sox (Brayan Bello) vs. Seattle Mariners (Luis Castillo), 7:10 p.m.
- Colorado Rockies (Kyle Freeland) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Zac Gallen), 7:10 p.m.
What should you know about the Diamondbacks stadium?
The Diamondbacks kick off their 27th MLB season at Chase Field, their home in downtown Phoenix since the franchise’s establishment in 1999. The retractable-domed stadium, best known throughout MLB for its distinctive swimming pool in right-center field, is presently the subject of intense discussion over its future. Will the team be able to modernize the stadium to stay up with newer venues in baseball? Will the Diamondbacks try to relocate elsewhere in the Valley?
The Diamondbacks’ most immediate concern is the roof, which will be unable to open or close for the third straight season when fans are present.
The Diamondbacks remain concerned that a roof problem might cause a cable to snap during roof movement, endangering everyone in the stadium. Before the gates open, the crew must decide whether the roof should be open or closed.
The Diamondbacks often err on the side of caution when it comes to weather forecasts, but that came back to haunt them on Monday when, with the roof open, an unexpected storm passed through the Phoenix region as a preseason game was being played.
Because the roof could not be closed, the game had to be canceled due to concerns for the players’ safety.
Following the incident, Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall stated last week that the organization is aware of a potential solution that should resolve the issue, but it will not begin until next offseason.
On a bright side, the DBacks have invested around $6 million to improve their lighting and sound systems. About two-thirds of that money went toward the installation of new LED lighting, which was tested during Monday’s rain-shortened preseason game. Nick Piecoro said on Thursday that the players appear to like it.
“I thought they were pretty cool,” Diamondbacks center fielder Alek Thomas explained. “They’re quite brilliant. The turf appears different. Everything appears different, more white, and it brings out the colors of everything. Before, it was yellow and drab. The field seemed to have grown significantly. It didn’t always look like that.
Who should you watch on Diamondbacks Opening Day?
Corbin Carroll, the Diamondbacks’ franchise player, earned the National League Rookie of the Year last season and finished in the top five in the NL MVP voting. Carroll was an All-Star in his debut major league season, stealing 54 bases and scoring 116 runs in 2023. He swiped five more bags and scored eleven more runs in 17 postseason games.
Zac Gallen, the team’s Opening Day starter, has finished in the top five in the National League Cy Young voting the previous two seasons. Over that time, he has a 3.04 ERA and a 1.023 WHIP.
Second baseman Ketel Marte and first baseman Christian Walker are also worth keeping an eye on. Marte had an.844 OPS last season and hit.329 in the postseason. Walker has won back-to-back Gold Gloves and has 33 or more home runs in consecutive seasons.
