Happy MLB Opening Day!
The 2026 season has arrived, starting with a 7-0 blowout victory for the New York Yankees over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night and continuing with season openers for the rest of MLB on Thursday and Friday. Whether it’s ace showdowns, powerhouse matchups or new faces in new places you want to see, there is something for everyone.
What are we looking for as the season gets started? Here’s our takeaway from the Yankees-Giants opener and a pregame look at what you need to know for the remaining games (including each team’s initial 2026 Power Ranking and final offseason grade). We’ll also post lineups as they are announced and live updates throughout, followed by takeaways after every final pitch.
Jump to: Live updates | Lineups | Takeaways | Friday games
Live updates
Thursday games
First pitch: 8:30 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Zac Gallen vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
What to know about the D-backs
Power ranking: 19 | Offseason grade: C+
Biggest change since we saw them last: After an offseason of Ketel Marte trade rumors, the Diamondbacks opted to keep their All-Star second baseman and also re-signed Opening Day starter Gallen. Though he is not the superstar he was earlier in his career, Nolan Arenado is the big-name addition here and Arizona also reunited with right-hander Merrill Kelly, a key member of the 2023 NL champion team.
What to know about the Dodgers
Power ranking: 1 | Offseason grade: A
Biggest change since we saw them last: Since we last saw the Dodgers celebrating their Game 7 World Series win, all they’ve done is go out and fill their two biggest holes (left field and closer) in the grandest fashion possible by signing Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz.
Lineups
D-backs
Ketel Marte (S) 2B
Corbin Carroll (L) RF
Geraldo Perdomo (S) SS
Gabriel Moreno (R) C
Pavin Smith (L) DH
Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
Carlos Santana (S) 1B
Alek Thomas (L) CF
Jordan Lawlar (R) LF
Dodgers
Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
Kyle Tucker (L) RF
Mookie Betts (R) SS
Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
Will Smith (R) C
Max Muncy (L) 3B
Teoscar Hernandez (R) LF
Andy Pages (R) CF
Miguel Rojas (R) 2B
First pitch: 10:10 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Tanner Bibee vs. Logan Gilbert
What to know about the Guardians
Power ranking: 20 | Offseason grade: D+
Biggest change since we saw them last: N/A. Coming off a surprising AL Central title run, it was a very quiet winter in Cleveland.
What to know about the Mariners
Power ranking: 2 | Offseason grade: A-
Biggest change since we saw them last: After their 2026 ended one win shy of the first World Series appearance in franchise history, the Mariners made a late-offseason splash when they traded for versatile infielder Brendan Donovan.
Lineups
Guardians
TBD
Mariners
Brendan Donovan (L) 3B
Cal Raleigh (S) C
Julio Rodriguez (R) CF
Josh Naylor (L) 1B
Randy Arozarena (R) LF
Luke Raley (L) RF
Dominic Canzone (L) DH
Cole Young (L) 2B
Leo Rivas (S) SS
Takeaways
Baltimore’s new-look rotation had a similar feel to last year for Opening Day at least. Trevor Rogers, who sported the best ERA in the American League last year from May 24 on — yes, even better than Tarik Skubal — navigated around four walks and a hit-by-pitch to spin seven scoreless innings. Never overwhelming with his fastball but a perpetual out-getter, Rogers carved the Minnesota Twins’ iffy lineup, which mustered a run off Tyler Wells in the eighth inning before Ryan Helsley blew them away in the ninth to secure his first save as Orioles closer. In the gnarly American League East , every out-of-division win matters, and Baltimore has its first in the books. — Jeff Passan
A howling wind knocked down one ball for him, but Matthew Boyd didn’t look much like the pitcher who made the All-Star team last season and Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. To wit: He gave up six earned runs to the lowly Nationals — who jumped on all sorts of hittable pitches during a six-run fourth inning.
It was more runs than Boyd gave up in any start last season as he was chased after just 3.2 innings after the Cubs handed him a 2-1 lead. The veteran lefty faded some down the stretch last year so was this a sign of things to come or just a simple Day 1 bad outing? The good news is he struck out seven batters over the first three innings before falling apart. — Jesse Rogers
A year ago, 37 games separated the 97-65 Brewers from the 60-102 White Sox in the MLB-level standings. Despite projections that suggested that chase, if still wide, had narrowed, Opening Day certainly felt like it has not. The Brewers began the day with the unexpected news that Jackson Chourio had landed on the injured list, but that didn’t stop them from dominating the White Sox in every phase. From Jacob Misiorowski’s franchise-record 11 Opening Day strikeouts to the strike zone dominance of the entire Brewers lineup, it was no contest from the early innings. Even the sausage race, won by the Italian Sausage, was a blowout. For now, 2026 looks for both teams a lot like 2025. But it was, after all, only one game. — Bradford Doolittle
That’s not how anyone envisioned Paul Skenes launching his Cy Young Award defense. An unusual lack of execution combined with misfortune and terrible defense behind him produced the worst start of Skenes’ young career. The right-hander gave up five runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter over just two-thirds of an inning. The Mets’ first two hits were a bloop single and a swinging bunt, but they made Skenes work. New York fouled off 10 of his 37 pitches and, outside of Carson Benge’s strikeout on three whiffs in his first career plate appearance, swung through just two. And yet Skenes would’ve escaped the trouble had center fielder Oneil Cruz not botched back-to-back routine plays, which led to four runs instead of the end of the inning. If Cruz makes those plays, Skenes gets through the inning and could’ve rebounded. But he wasn’t sharp and it cost him. — Jorge Castillo
It has become something close to a legal obligation to assess the Yankees’ offseason by using the words run it back. But lost in the implied criticism of the team’s offseason, which included no splashy additions, is this: The guys they’re running it back with are pretty good.
In the first game of the 2026 season, a stand-alone spectacle at Oracle Park that was long on pomp and short on suspense, Max Fried cruised through 6⅓ innings, allowing just two hits and one runner past first base, as the Yankees beat the Giants and made rookie manager Tony Vitello’s debut one he’ll probably want to forget.
Vitello became the first person to go directly from college head coach to big league manager, and Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey made the out-of-the-box decision in part to inject the former Tennessee head coach’s unique brand of energy and intensity into a team that has hovered around .500 for the past four seasons. But a pitcher like Fried can sap the energy of even the most rabid group, and with him on the mound, the Yankees’ five-run second inning made the outcome all but inevitable. — Tim Keown
Friday games
First pitch: 7:07 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Luis Severino vs. Kevin Gausman
What to know about the Athletics
Power ranking: 23 | Offseason grade: D
Biggest change since we saw them last: It wasn’t the splashiest offseason for the Athletics, but their biggest move was adding veteran Jeff McNeil to their already-promising lineup in a trade with the Mets.
What to know about the Blue Jays
Power ranking: 4 | Offseason grade: B+
Biggest change since we saw them last: The Blue Jays showed they’re serious about getting back to the World Series after their crushing Game 7 loss to the Dodgers when they lavished top free agent starter Dylan Cease with a seven-year, $210 million deal.
First pitch: 7:15 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Kyle Freeland vs. Sandy Alcantara
What to know about the Rockies
Power ranking: 30 | Offseason grade: C-
Biggest change since we saw them last: It’s a whole new ballgame for the Rockies, who turned their baseball operations department over to former Cleveland Browns (yes, you read that right) exec Paul DePodesta.
What to know about the Marlins
Power ranking: 25 | Offseason grade: C+
Biggest change since we saw them last: Acquired in an offseason trade with the Cubs for starter Edward Cabrera, Owen Caissie is an outfielder with the kind of offensive upside the Marlins have been craving.
First pitch: 7:15 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Cole Ragans vs. Chris Sale
What to know about the Royals
Power ranking: 15 | Offseason grade: C
Biggest change since we saw them last: You won’t see it until they head to K.C. for their home opener, but the Royals’ most notable offseason change came when they decided to move the fences in at Kauffman Stadium.
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What to know about the Braves
Power ranking: 10 | Offseason grade: B+
Biggest change since we saw them last: Mike Yastrzemski was originally signed as a fourth outfielder in a busy offseason for the Braves, but his role became even more important when Jurickson Profar was suspended for the entire 2026 season after his second positive PED test.
