Ranking the Opening Day pitching matchups from best to worst

Opening Day is the only time every team puts their ace forward. The order of rotations gets jumbled during the season, meaning ace-against-ace matchups are pretty infrequent. That’s why fans look forward to the opening day pitching matchups, and we are here to rank them.

Aside from injuries, teams are sending their best starting pitcher to the mound for the first game of the season. This gives us a tantalizing slate of pitching matchups, featuring Cy Young winners past, present, and future.

1. Chris Sale vs. Michael King

Chris Sale spent almost all of his twenties competing for Cy Young awards. No one expected him to win his first Cy Young in his age-35 season as an Atlanta Brave.

A repeat of last season is incredibly unlikely, but we won’t rule anything out.

Michael King, meanwhile, was an immediate star for the San Diego Padres after arriving in the Juan Soto trade. He struck out 12 Braves when these teams met in the postseason.

2. Tarik Skubal vs TBD (Dodgers)

It’s a bit unorthodox putting a TBD in the second spot. This is probably going to be the top pitching matchup when the Los Angeles Dodgers eventually confirm their starter.

Tarik Skubal won the AL Cy Young and completed the Triple Crown in 2024. Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto could start for the Dodgers.

3. Logan Webb vs. Hunter Greene

Grounballing innings eater meets flamethrowing former top prospect. Logan Webb might be the most reliable pitchers in the majors, such is his knack for throwing 190+ innings with a solid ERA.

Greene is more of a work in progress. He had a career-best year in 2024 with 6.2 bWAR, 150.1 innings, and a 2.75 ERA. Projections are still much kinder to Webb, though, so it’ll be interesting to see how both pitchers start off the 2025 campaign.

4. Garrett Crochet vs Nathan Eovaldi

Garrett Crochet makes his first start with the Boston Red Sox. Nathan Eovaldi faces his former team. Crochet, narrowly behind Skubal in the preseason AL Cy Young odds, has electric stuff.

Eovaldi remains a solid pitcher with a 115 ERA+ over the last five seasons. It would have been in first place if Jacob deGrom was getting the ball, but we can settle for Crochet and Eovaldi in Texas.

5. Paul Skenes vs Sandy Alcantara

Paul Skenes’ presence alone made this a candidate for a top three placing. This could have taken top spot if Sandy Alcantara wasn’t making his first start after surgery.

The focus is all on pitching matchups here, so the uninspiring nature of the lineups doesn’t really matter. It’s still a minor factor, though, particularly as the Miami Marlins won’t provide much a challenge for Skenes, who enters the season as the clear Cy Young favorite.

6. Pablo López vs Sonny Gray

This is Pablo López’s third straight Opening Day start as a Minnesota Twin. He faces Sonny Gray, who has allowed on earned run in 20 Opening Day innings across three starts.

ZiPS projects both pitchers will finish in the top 20 in ERA among starting pitchers. This isn’t a matchup to lure in neutrals, yet these are two impressive pitchers with good track records.

7. TBD (Cubs) vs. Zac Gallen/Corbin Burnes

Torey Lovullo has one of the toughest Opening Day decisions between Zac Gallen and Corbin Burnes. The former has started the last two seasons openers and has finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting in three of the last five seasons. Burnes is a former Cy Young winner and four-time All-Star.

Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga started for the Chicago Cubs in the Tokyo Series. Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd are the other contenders for the game at Chase Field.

8. Tanner Bibee vs. Cole Ragans

The Cleveland Guardians have had two Opening Day starters over the last decade (Corey Kluber and Shane Bieber). Tanner Bibee joins the club in 2025 after posting a 3.47 ERA in over 170 innings last season.

Bibee faces Cole Ragans, a flamethrowing southpaw for the Kansas City Royals. Since arriving in the Aroldis Chapman trade midway through the 2023 season, Ragans has 312 strikeouts in 258 innings.

9. Zach Eflin vs. José Berríos

With Burnes in Arizona and Grayson Rodriguez on the shelf, Zach Eflin gets the start for the Baltimore Orioles. He’s finally starting to live up to the hype, but he’s no more than a decent second starter.

Despite a 3.63 ERA over the last two seasons, the projections are similar for José Berríos. The former Twin has mediocre underlying numbers as a Toronto Blue Jay, and his strikeout numbers have declined since earning Cy Young votes in 2021.

10. Zack Wheeler vs. MacKenzie Gore

Once again among the NL Cy Young favorites, Zack Wheeler begins his season against the Washington Nationals and MacKenzie Gore. Wheeler shut out the Atlanta Braves for six innings on 2024 Opening Day.

Breaking out last season, Gore is getting his first Opening Day start. At 26 years old, he is the youngest Opening Day starter for the Nationals since Stephen Strasburg 11 years ago.

11. Freddy Peralta vs. Carlos Rodón

Freddy Peralta against Gerrit Cole or Max Fried might have made the top five. With an 88 ERA+ in 239.1 innings as a New York Yankee, Carlos Rodón is a much less exciting option.

Peralta, owner of a 120 ERA+ over the last four seasons, is one of the most underrated pitchers in the sport.

12. Clay Holmes vs. Framber Valdez

Clay Holmes has started a grand total of four MLB games, and none since 2018. On ace pedigree, he is the bottom of the list for the 30 Opening Day starters. The New York Mets converting Holmes back to a starter generates sufficient intrigue to keep this matchup out of the bottom three.

Framber Valdez didn’t allow a run in his first two Opening Day starts. He allowed three last year. He’s only the fourth pitcher in franchise history to start at least four straight Opening Days.

13. Luis Severino vs. Logan Gilbert

Signing Luis Severino was one of several moves made by the Athletics to avoid a grievance from the MLBPA. Severino had an impressive bounce back year with the Mets, earning the Opening Day gig against the Seattle Mariners.

Seattle has arguably the best rotation in the majors. It’s Logan Gilbert who gets the start after throwing the most innings of any big-league pitcher in 2024.

14. Kyle Freeland vs. Shane McClanahan

Shane McClanahan’s return from injury after a 130 ERA+ in his first three big-league seasons is enough to keep the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays from being in last place.

Since finishing fourth in Cy Young voting in 2018, Kyle Freelance has a 5.00 ERA in 739.1 innings.

15. Yusei Kikuchi vs. Sean Burke

Yusei Kikuchi just had a 147 ERA+ in 10 starts as a Houston Astro. Sean Burke is the future of the Chicago White Sox’s rotation.

This isn’t the worst Opening Day pitching matchup in recent memory, but it lacks the star power of most of the others we have on the schedule in 2025.

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