Opening Day 2024 arrives in Major League Baseball

Play ball! The day has finally arrived for baseball fans across the country and around the world. Major League Baseball begins its 148^th season of play this afternoon. Sure, we had two games played in Korea last week. But aside from that mini showcase, the true starting line is approached today.

There will be all manner of pomp and circumstance taking place across America today and tonight in 15 different ball parks as all 30 clubs are scheduled to take the field. This will mark the start of a six-month,162-game marathon regular season followed by a drama-filled, month-long postseason.

OPENING DAY SCHEDULE

Here are the games slated to take place today, weather permitting. Listed are the starting times (ET), teams involved, ball parks, and announced starting pitching matchups.

1:10 PM – Milwaukee Brewers (Freddy Peralta) at New York Mets (Jose Quintana) at Citi Field

3:05 PM – Atlanta Braves (Spencer Strider) at Philadelphia Phillies (Zack Wheeler) at Citizens Bank Park

3:05 PM – Los Angeles Angels (Patrick Sandoval) at Baltimore Orioles (Corbin Burnes) at Camden Yards

4:10 PM – New York Yankees (Nestor Cortes) at Houston Astros (Framber Valdez) at Minute Maid Park

4:10 PM – Saint Louis Cardinals (Miles Mikolas) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow) at Dodger Stadium

4:10 PM – Toronto Blue Jays (Jose Berrios) at Tampa Bay Rays (Zach Eflin) at Tropicana Field

4:10 PM – San Francisco Giants (Logan Webb) at San Diego Padres (TBD) at Petco Park

4:10 PM – Washington Nationals (Josiah Gray) at Cincinnati Reds (Frankie Montas) at Great American Ball Park

4:10 PM – Minnesota Twins (Pablo Lopez) at Kansas City Royals (Cole Ragans) at Kauffman Stadium

4:10 PM – Detroit Tigers (Tarik Skubal) at Chicago White Sox (Garrett Crochet) at Guaranteed Rate Field

4:10 PM – Pittsburgh Pirates (Mitch Keller) at Miami Marlins (Jesus Luzardo) at loanDepot Park

7:35 PM – Chicago Cubs (Justin Steele) at Texas Rangers (Nate Eovaldi) at Globe Life Field

10:07 PM – Cleveland Guardians (Shane Bieber) at Oakland Athletics (Alex Wood) at Oakland Colisseum

10:10 PM – Colorado Rockies (Kyle Freeland) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Zac Gallen) at Chase Field

10:10 PM – Boston Red Sox (Brayan Bello) at Seattle Mariners (Luis Castillo)

Yours truly will head out to Citizens Bank Park to watch my Fightin’ Phils take on the division rival Braves. My brother and I will not only be looking forward to a fantastic, star-studded game on the field, but also some of the best ballpark food in America, and a reunion with 45,000 friends who make up the wildest fan base in the game today.

TELEVISION COVERAGE IN 2024

The Opening Day games will be televised by numerous local and regional service providers with a few games available to a nationwide audience. MLB Network will cover the Blue Jays-Rays and the Red Sox-Mariners tilts, while ESPN will have the Cubs-Rangers contest.

As the regular season unfolds, national television coverage will be divided across a number of networks and streaming services.

ESPN, which had the Seoul Series last week, will cover a game from Mexico City on April 28 between the Astros and Rockies. They will also have the Yankees-Tigers in the Little League Classic on August 18, and one of the two London Series games (July 9) between the Phillies and Mets.

Fox Sports gets the other London Series contest on July 8 between the Phils and Mets, as well as a special game at legendary Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama on June 20 between the Giants and Cardinals.

All games that are not listed as “national coverage” can be streamed via MLB.tv, which can be purchased directly by fans or added through Fubo, ESPN+, or Amazon Prime.

Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders return this season to Apple+ subscribers. These games will begin streaming on the first Friday, March 29, with the Yankees-Astros and Cardinals-Dodgers contests.

In addition to the special games previously mentioned, Fox will broadcast games throughout the season on the flagship Fox network, FS1, and Fox Deportes. Meanwhile, ESPN will begin its Sunday Night Baseball coverage with the Cardinals-Dodgers on March 31.

TBS will also broadcast a few games in the coming season, beginning with a Phillies vs Reds and Giants vs Dodgers doubleheader on Tuesday, April 2.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

As the season gets set to open, Las Vegas oddsmakers have installed the big spending Los Angeles Dodgers as betting favorites to win the World Series. Perennial favorites for over a decade as winners of 10 of the last 11 National League West Division titles, the Dodgers have captured just one World Series crown in the last 36 years. Meanwhile, NL East Division rivals Atlanta and Philadelphia are the clear second and third choices in the National League.

Over in the American League, another perennial favorite, the Houston Astros, have been installed as the betting favorites to open the year. The New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and defending World Series champion Texas Rangers are right on their heels.

BOLD PREDICTIONS

Yeah, I am going to look like a homer on this one. But those who follow my writing on baseball at MattVeasey.com know that I have not picked my Phillies to win the World Series in a long time. That ends this year. My Fall Classic pick: Phils over the Seattle Mariners.

My division winners and wildcard picks: NL East – Atlanta, NL Central – Milwaukee, NL West – Los Angeles, NL Wildcards – Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, AL East – Baltimore, AL Central – Cleveland, AL West – Seattle, AL Wildcards – Houston, Texas, Toronto.

Here are my individual award winner predictions: NL MVP – Mookie Betts, AL MVP – Julio Rodriguez, NL Cy Young – Zack Wheeler, AL Cy Young – Luis Castillo, NL Rookie of the Year – Yoshinobu Yamamoto, AL Rookie of the Year – Wyatt Langford.

The next seven months promise to be filled with incredible moments, high drama, devastating injuries, elite performances, and any number of surprises. I will end this piece the only way appropriate – the exact same way in which I opened it: Play ball!

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