Alex Wood, Spencer Strider, Framber Valdez
ArticlesMLBBy Jessica Kleinschmidt on

Baseball season is just about underway and a majority of the 2024 Opening Day starters have been announced.

With that said, each season, there’s a historical factor … or several — that makes a new beginning that much more special.

Here are the starters that have been announced as of Tuesday morning:

For starters (literally), the San Diego Padres kick things off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a National League West showdown in the Seoul Series in South Korea. It’ll be Yu Darvish against Tyler Glasnow on the bump.

Major League Baseball will begin the season on an international stage for a series that possesses the name of Shohei Ohtani. This makes for the one of the most anticipated seasons for the Dodgers as he makes his debut after signing a historic 10-year, $700-million-dollar deal.

This will be Darvish’s fourth Opening Day start, while Glasnow gets his second nod. As for the new LA pitcher, he becomes the first Dodgers pitcher to make his team debut with an Opening Day start since Derek Lowe in 2005.

The New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers will send Jose Quintana and Freddy Peralta to the bump. Quintana gets his second career Opening Day start and is just one of two Colombian-born pitchers in MLB history to start on Opening Day. Julio Teheran had six Opening Day starts.

Peralta will make his first career Opening Day start.

It’ll be Corbin Burnes against Patrick Sandoval as the Baltimore Orioles host the Los Angeles Angels.

Burnes earns his third career start in just as many consecutive annual openers. Sandoval will make his first career start on Opening Day — the first left-hander to do so for the Angels since Andrew Heaney in 2020.

Burnes’ 2023 All-Star campaign had him finishing the season with a 3.39 ERA and a National League-leading 1.069 WHIP. He also was in Cy Young Award talks, earning eighth place in voting.

When the Atlanta Braves head to Citizens Bank Park, they’ll send Spencer Strider to the mound against Zack Wheeler.

Wheeler makes his first career Opening Day start after signing a three-year, $126 million extension this offseason.

Strider, 25, according to MLB, will be the ninth-youngest Opening Day starter for the Braves, and the youngest since Michael Soroka in 2020 who was 22.

The Oakland A’s begin their season at home hosting the Cleveland Guardians. Veteran Alex Wood will make his career Opening Day start with his new squad while they face Shane Bieber who makes his fifth career start.

Wood, 33, will be the oldest Opening Day starter for the A’s since 33-year-old Mike Fiers in 2019. Across 11 seasons, Wood was an All-Star select in 2017 when he finished with a 2.72 ERA with 151 strikeouts in 152 1/3 innings.

Jesús Luzardo will make his first career Opening Day start for the Miami Marlins as they host the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Luzardo becomes the first left-handed starter for the Marling on opening day since Wei-Yin Chen in 2016.

The Pirates send Mitch Keller to the mound for their Opening Day starter. He earned an All-Star selection in 2023 after boasting a 4.21 ERA, 1.245 WHIP, and 210 strikeouts in 194 1/3 innings.

About Jessica Kleinschmidt

Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.

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