When is MLB 2025 Opening Day? All you need to know about schedule, team, venue, players, starting pitchers & more

MLB's Opening Day serves as the perfect start to a six-month extravaganza that officially kicks off the season. Most teams will start their season in the final week of March. The regular season will culminate in September with all clubs having played 162 times. The postseason will feature a 12-team playoff format with World Series champions crowned in the Fall Classic by the end of October or early November.

When is Opening Day for all teams?

There will be three different Opening Days for all the thirty teams in the league. The LA Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs will start the MLB 2025 season in Tokyo. The 2025 Tokyo Series follows the Seoul Series that started the season in 2024 and also featured the Dodgers against the San Diego Padres.

Most teams will play their first game on March 27. Fourteen matchups are scheduled for that day with 12 fresh teams. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers will go up against the Cubs and Dodgers.

The last two teams to start the season will be the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays. They have a delayed schedule because of preparations required at George Steinbrenner Field, the home of the Rays for 2025 and the usual Spring Training home of the New York Yankees. Tropicana Field is being repaired after Hurricane Milton damaged its roof.

Detailed Schedule, Teams and Home-Road matchups for Opening Day

• Angels: March 27 at White Sox (Time TBD)
• Astros: March 27 vs. Mets (Time TBD)
• Athletics: March 27 at Mariners (10:10 p.m. ET)
• Blue Jays: March 27 vs. Orioles (3:07 p.m. ET)
• Braves: March 27 at Padres (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Brewers: March 27 at Yankees (3:05 p.m. ET)
• Cardinals: March 27 vs. Twins (4:15 p.m. ET)
• Cubs: March 18 vs. Dodgers (6:00 a.m. ET in Tokyo)
• Diamondbacks: March 27 vs. Cubs (10:10 p.m. ET)
• Dodgers: March 18 at Cubs (6:00 a.m. ET in Tokyo)
• Giants: March 27 at Reds (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Guardians: March 27 at Royals (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Mariners: March 27 vs. Athletics (10:10 p.m. ET)
• Marlins: March 27 vs. Pirates (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Mets: March 27 at Astros (Time TBD)
• Nationals: March 27 vs. Phillies (4:05 p.m. ET)
• Orioles: March 27 at Blue Jays (3:07 p.m. ET)
• Padres: March 27 vs. Braves (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Phillies: March 27 at Nationals (4:05 p.m. ET)
• Pirates: March 27 at Marlins (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Rangers: March 27 vs. Red Sox (4:05 p.m. ET)
• Rays: March 28 vs. Rockies (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Reds: March 27 vs. Giants (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Red Sox: March 27 at Rangers (4:05 p.m. ET)
• Rockies: March 28 at Rays (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Royals: March 27 vs. Guardians (4:10 p.m. ET)
• Tigers: March 27 at Dodgers (7:10 p.m. ET)
• Twins: March 27 at Cardinals (4:15 p.m. ET)
• White Sox: March 27 vs. Angels (Time TBD)
• Yankees: March 27 vs. Brewers (3:05 p.m. ET)

Starting Pitchers for Opening Day

It is a tradition for teams to announce their starting pitchers ahead of their season start. The nod for Opening Day usually goes to the team's best pitcher who is considered the ace.

• Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) vs. Cubs (Shota Imanaga)
• Brewers (Freddy Peralta) at Yankees (TBD)
• Orioles (TBD) at Blue Jays (TBD)
• Red Sox (TBD) at Rangers (TBD)
• Phillies (Zack Wheeler) at Nationals (TBD)
• Guardians (TBD) at Royals (TBD)
• Mets (TBD) at Astros (TBD)
• Giants (Logan Webb) at Reds (Hunter Greene)
• Braves (TBD) at Padres (TBD)
• Angels (Yusei Kikuchi) at White Sox (TBD)
• Pirates (TBD) at Marlins (Sandy Alcantara)
• Twins (Pablo López) at Cardinals (TBD)
• Tigers (Tarik Skubal) at Dodgers (TBD)
• Cubs (TBD) at Diamondbacks (TBD)
• Athletics (TBD) at Mariners (TBD)

Players to watch out for on Opening Day

As the defending champions and with a star-studded lineup, the LA Dodgers are the team to watch out for again. The crowd at Tokyo Done will be buzzing as their country's pride, Shohei Ohtani, takes the field. LA's latest Japanese recruit, Roki Sasaki, also has been named a starter for their second game of the Tokyo Series alongside Yamamoto. For the Cubs, Shota Imanaga will be one to watch out for as the starting option.

Apart from the Dodgers, there will be a lot of buzz surrounding Juan Soto's first game with the New York Mets. Meanwhile, Tarik Skubal, last year's AL Cy Young winner will take the mound against the Dodgers. The Atlanta Braves, who will have Ronaldo Acuna Jr. return to their lineup, will face the San Diego Padres, packed with powerful at-bats.