Below you will find every starting pitcher for each team in Game 1 of the 2022 season, as announced by the team’s manager. Noted in parentheses are how many times that pitcher has started on Opening Day, including the upcoming ’22 start.
Dodgers (at COL): Walker Buehler (1st)
After finishing fourth in the NL Cy Young Award race last season, Buehler will get the ball on Opening Day for the first time. It will mark the fourth straight season the Dodgers have had a different Opening Day starting pitcher from the previous year.
2021 OD starter: Clayton Kershaw
Mets (at WSH): Jacob deGrom (4th)
This will be deGrom’s fourth career Opening Day start, tying Johan Santana & Tom Glavine for third-most in Mets history, trailing only Tom Seaver (11) and Dwight Gooden (eight). It’s also four straight, which ties Gooden from 1988-91 for the second-longest streak in franchise history, behind Seaver’s 10 straight (1968-77).
2021 OD starter: deGrom
Phillies (vs. OAK): Aaron Nola (5th)
Nola will be making his fifth consecutive Opening Day start for the Phillies, which was pretty much a foregone conclusion after staff ace Zack Wheeler entered Spring Training behind schedule on his throwing program. Nola will become the first Phillies pitcher to start at least five straight Opening Day games since Hall of Famer Steve Carlton did so from 1977-86.
2021 OD starter: Nola
Red Sox (at NYY): Nathan Eovaldi (3rd)
Eovaldi will join Jon Lester and Pedro Martinez as the only Red Sox pitchers who have made three consecutive Opening Day starts since 2000. The right-hander will face the Yankees, whom he helped eliminate from the 2021 postseason with a strong outing in the American League Wild Card Game. The former Yankee allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings and struck out eight in Boston’s 6-2 victory.
2021 OD starter: Eovaldi
Reds (at ATL): Tyler Mahle (1st)
With Luis Castillo dealing with shoulder soreness, Mahle gets the nod for his first career Opening Day start following a pair of strong seasons for Cincinnati. In 2021, the right-hander posted a 3.75 ERA (127 ERA+) over 180 innings. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, he had a 3.59 ERA over 47 2/3 innings. Over those two seasons, he struck out 28 percent of the batters he faced.
2021 OD starter: Luis Castillo
Tigers (vs. CWS): Eduardo Rodriguez (1st)
Rodriguez will make his first Opening Day start about five months after signing a five-year, $77 million contract with the Tigers. He posted a 4.74 ERA over 157 2/3 innings last season with the Red Sox, but he had a 3.50 expected ERA and a 3.32 FIP. He set career bests in strikeout percentage (27.4) and walk percentage (7.0).
2021 OD starter: Matthew Boyd
Angels (vs. HOU): Shohei Ohtani (1st)
The two-way star and reigning American League MVP will get his first career Opening Day start at home on April 7. Ohtani struck out 156 batters and registered a 3.18 ERA and 1.09 WHIP across 130 1/3 innings last year. Thanks to the reported “Ohtani rule,” he can be in the Angels’ lineup as the designated hitter on days in which he pitches and stay in the game as the DH once he is replaced on the mound.
2021 OD starter: Dylan Bundy
2021 OD starter: Hyun Jin Ryu
2021 OD starter: Tyler Glasnow
2021 OD starter: John Means
2021 OD starter: Gerrit Cole
2021 OD starter: Shane Bieber
2021 OD starter: Brad Keller
2021 OD starter: Matthew Boyd
2021 OD starter: Kenta Maeda
2021 OD starter: Lucas Giolito
2021 OD starter: Zack Greinke
2021 OD starter: Chris Bassitt
2021 OD starter: Marco Gonzales
2021 OD starter: Kyle Gibson
2021 OD starter: Max Fried
2021 OD starter: Sandy Alcántara
2021 OD starter: Max Scherzer
2021 OD starter: Brandon Woodruff
2021 OD starter: Jack Flaherty
2021 OD starter: Kyle Hendricks
2021 OD starter: Chad Kuhl
2021 OD starter: Madison Bumgarner
2021 OD starter: Kevin Gausman
2021 OD starter: Yu Darvish
2021 OD starter: German Marquez