The 2025 MLB regular season has arrived. Thursday was Opening Day in Major League Baseball, and 28 of the league's 30 teams were in action. We saw familiar faces in new places, including Juan Soto having a relatively quiet Mets debut that ended with the slugger striking out against Josh Hader in a loss to the Astors.
The Yankees, meanwhile, started their post-Soto era on the right foot, taking down the Brewers with the help of a historic leadoff home run. The Red Sox, Phillies, Giants and Marlins got clutch hits to pick up Opening Day wins, while Adley Rutschman and Fernando Tatis Jr. had big days in victories for the Orioles and Padres, respectively.
Below are five key takeaways from 2025 MLB Opening Day.
The Dodgers escaped Opening Day with a 5-4 win over the visiting Tigers. Pair that dub with their two-game sweep of the Cubs in the Tokyo Series last week, and reigning World Series champs have their first 3-0 start since 2016. They're also the first defending champion to start 3-0 since the 2001 Yankees.
Teoscar Hernández, coming off a career-high 33 homers in 2024, hit a go-ahead three-run bomb off reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. Later in the game, the peerless Shohei Ohtani contributed his second homer of the season -- he also homered against the Cubs in his native Japan -- to give the Dodgers an essential insurance run. Here's a look at his opposite-field shot:
On the Detroit side, Spencer Torkelson had a homer and four walks. The Tigers managed some traffic on the bases against Blake Treinen in the ninth, but came up short in their comeback attempt.
The Baltimore Orioles brought their bats to Opening Day in Toronto as they racked up six home runs on Thursday in the eventual 12-2 throttling of the Jays. That put the O's in elite Opening-Day company. Here are the digits of note:
Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins each homered twice, and Jordan Westburg made it No. 6 with his eighth-inning homer. The headliner, though, is new Oriole Tyler O'Neill, who extended his own MLB record by homering on Opening Day for the sixth straight year. Here's a look:
Last year, the Orioles ranked second in the majors with 235 home runs -- only the Yankees had more, with 237 -- so they're accustomed to bringing the thunder. And now they're on pace for 972 homers this season! Not coincidentally, Blue Jays pitchers last season gave up the second-most homers in the league (208). Only the Rockies, who play at a mile above sea level, gave up more.
Power, needless to say, will be essential to the post-Corbin Burnes Orioles' hopes in the AL East. So far, so good on that particular front, at least from the Baltimore standpoint.
The Washington Nationals fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in extras on Opening Day, but Nats starter MacKenzie Gore more than did his part. Regard the lefty's line for the day: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 13 SO, 0 BB.
Gore joins no less a moundsman than Bob Gibson as the only Opening Day starters in AL/NL history to strike out 13 or more batters with no walks and no runs allowed. Gibson turned that elusive trick back in 1967. Gore's career-high 13 Ks also set the Nationals/Expos franchise record for most Opening Day strikeouts. The record had belonged to Max Scherzer, who K'd 12 in the 2019 season opener.
Unfortunately for Gore and the Nats, the Phillies got to the Nats bullpen and then broke through with four runs in the 10th to notch the come-from-behind win. Gore's outing, though, raises hopes that he's ready to take the next step toward ace-dom.
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, last year's rookie phenom and one of this year's NL Cy Young hopefuls, was in Miami on Thursday to square against Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins, the 2022 NL Cy Young winner making his first regular-season start since undergoing the Tommy John surgery that cost him all of last season. The Alcantara sub-plot is that the deep-rebuilding Marlins are almost certainly going to trade him at some point, which adds a layer of importance to his starts.
As for Skenes, he made history from the jump. Via MLB.com: "Skenes became the youngest Pirate to make an Opening Day start since at least 1900 (22 years, 302 days), and the youngest across baseball since José Fernández for the Marlins in 2014. Skenes is the fastest No. 1 overall pick to make his first Opening Day start, eclipsing Mike Moore (No. 1 pick in 1981, Opening Day starter in '84) and Stephen Strasburg (No. 1 pick in 2009, Opening Day starter in '12)."
In 5 ⅓ innings, Skenes allowed two runs, both earned, on three hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Good results, but Skenes is of course capable of much more.
As for Alcantara, he allowed two earned on two hits in 4 ⅔ innings with seven strikeouts and four walks. Command and control are sometimes the last things to return after Tommy John, so some fits and starts are to be expected. On the other hand, Alcantara averaged 97.2 mph with his sinker and on multiple occasions topped 99 mph. As for the secondary stuff, it looked like it does on his best days:
Potential trading partners, start your engines. Nothing wrong with either performance on Thursday, but better and more dominant days are ahead for this duo.
As for the rest of this game, the Marlins wound up prevailing on a walk-off knock by Kyle Stowers – the first Opening Day walk-off win in franchise history.
When he stepped to the plate Thursday, Austin Wells became the first catcher to hit leadoff in the 124-season history of the New York Yankees. And, when he crossed the plate later in the inning, he became the first player to hit a leadoff homer on Opening Day for the Yankees regardless of position. Wells gave New York a quick 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer against the Brewers:
"It was awesome, it was a really cool experience for myself not doing it ever," Wells said about hitting leadoff after New York's win (NY 4, MIL 2). "It was cool to hear the fans and just be the first batter of the season."
Catchers do not hit leadoff often for obvious reasons. They tend to be slow and not especially good hitters, so most find themselves at the bottom of the lineup. Jason Kendall started 453 games at leadoff in his career, far and away the most by a catcher. Roger Bresnahan is a distant second with 66 career starts at leadoff.
Wells, 25, slugged 13 home runs and finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting last season, and the Yankees don't have an obvious leadoff candidate. They gave Wells a look atop the lineup in spring training and he slugged four leadoff homers. That earned him the job and he went deep to start Opening Day.
Nine innings after Wells' leadoff blast, Devin Williams closed the door on his former team, but not before the Brewers loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth. Williams struck out Christian Yelich representing the go-ahead run to end the game.
Randy Arozarena tied it up with a solo home run on an 0-2 pitch earlier in the frame, and then Jorge Polanco gave Seattle a 4-2 lead with this homer:
Polanco's now 3 for 3 on the night.
The A's have two runs to the Mariners' one, and both A's runs have come via a Tyler Soderstrom home run. Here's his second of the evening in Seattle:
The 23-year-old Soderstrom hit nine homers in 63 games last season, so he's got some pop. As a former consensus top-100 overall prospect, he's also got some ceiling.
Happ hits the first Cubs home run of the year, and keep in mind they already played two games in Japan. This one gives the Cubs a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning.
He doubled home two earlier to get the scoring started, so he's 2 for 3 with three RBI and a run, accounting for all four Cubs runs, and six total bases.
The Diamondbacks scored in the first when Ketel Marte, who doubled, was driven home by Josh Naylor. The Cubs rallied for three in the second with an Ian Happ two-RBI double and Kyle Tucker RBI single. And then Eugenio Suarez homered to lead off the bottom of the second for the D-backs. It's 3-2 Cubs, for now. I'll go out on a limb and guess this won't be the final score.
A's get their first hit of 2025. Still 0-0 vs. Seattle in the third.
The A's gold jerseys remain very good.
Just before the A's and host Mariners began their seasons, newly elected Hall of Famer and M's legend Ichiro Suzuki brought effort and intensity to his ceremonial first pitch. Regard:
Ball, but message delivered.
Blake Treinen gets a strikeout and foul out to avert any possible crisis and the Dodgers beat the Tigers, 5-4. They are now 3-0.
Gleyber Torres singled and then Spencer Torkelson drew a one-out walk. The Tigers have the tying run at second and go-ahead run at first with one out against Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen.
I do, obviously, have to tip my cap and say congrats on being the first 3-0 team in baseball history. That is, of course, if they hold on to this vaunted one-run lead.
Just a quick note here: The Dodgers are the best team in baseball, just as they were last year. I'm still going to push back as hard as possible to all the people crying "no fair" until they win more than, say, ONE real World Series since 1988.
Shohei Ohtani, the reigning NL MVP and author of the first 50-50 season in MLB history, already has one homer to his credit this season, as he hit a bomb against the Cubs during the season-opening Tokyo Series. Then on Thursday he put another on the board in the seventh inning against the Tigers. Here's a look:
Yep, that's an opposite-field no-doubter by one of the best hitters on the planet. That also may prove to be a crucial insurance one for the Dodgers in the first home game of the season.
With his Dodgers down 2-1 in the fifth and facing perhaps the best pitcher in baseball (that would be Tarik Skubal of the visiting Tigers), slugger Teoscar Hernández put the world champs back on top with a three-run blast off a first-pitch fastball. Here's the color-television proof that it happened:
Hernández, back in town on a three-year contract, is coming off a career-high 33 homers in 2024, and he's apparently still got that thump.
Coming off a disappointing 2024 season and the subject of trade discussions throughout the winter, Nolan Arenado has much to prove this season. One positive sign was the much improved bat speed he showed during spring training. Then on Opening Day against the Twins, Arenado did this to give the Cardinals a needed insurance run:
That's big velocity in a tough spot, but Arenado turned it around. Getting back to the airborne pull power that's been his calling card is important, and the above is a fine example of it.
The Cardinals' center fielder made an impressive snare to save one and perhaps two runs in a tight game against the Twins. Dig it:
I gotta say, getting walked off on a Paul Skenes start day is about as wretched a start to the season as you can have as the Pirates. Pittsburgh's bullpen blew a two-run lead in the eighth and then served up Kyle Stowers' walk-off single in the ninth:
Sandy Alcantara took a no-hitter into the fifth inning in his first big league start since Sept. 2023. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner of course missed the entire 2024 season with Tommy John surgery. Alcantara was terrific and so was Skenes. He matched Alcantara pitch-for-pitch most of the game. It was decided by the bullpens.
The win snaps a four-year Opening Day losing streak for Miami.
Raise that banner, Los Angeles Dodgers:
The Reds led Thursday's opener against the Giants in Cincy most of the way. It was 3-0 early and then the Giants cut to 3-2 in the fourth. That remained the score all the way until the ninth, when a Patrick Bailey single tied the game and then Wilmer Flores came through with the big blow, a three-run shot to give the Giants a 6-3 lead.
The Reds would rally in the ninth, but only get one run back. Matt McLain would fly out to deep left as the tying run to end the game. The Giants prevailed, 6-4.
Here's evidence of that particular claim:
Boston Red Sox second baseman Kristian Campbell cracked the Opening Day roster, and he got to work quickly when it comes to recording his first major-league hit. Here's a look:
The Sox are hoping to get big contributions from their impressive young talent on hand or on the way soon. Campbell, whom CBS Sports ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect in baseball coming into this season, is a big part of those hopes. So far, so good.
Of all the big-name sluggers in San Diego for Braves-Padres, it is Gavin Sheets with the game-tying blast in the seventh. 4-4.
Considering his strong underlying batted-ball metrics and elite plate discipline, Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar could have a big year provided he stays healthy. Speaking of which, he went yard against the Twins on Opening Day:
With their Opening Day win, the White Sox are above .500 for the first time since March 30, 2023.
Jordan Walker with a 116.5 mph single in St. Louis.
The new Yankees closer struck out Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich to end the threat, the ninth and the game.
The Yankees took a 4-1 lead into the ninth, and now former Brewers closer Devin Williams has loaded the bases with no outs against his former team on a single, a double, and a walk.
It's a two-homer Opening Day for Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman. His second of the day, off Toronto reliever Yariel Rodríguez, spanned an impressive 415 feet. Here are the relevant moving pictures:
It's Baltimore in a romp so far.
The Phillies were completely dominated through six innings by Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore. It was 1-0 Nats through those six innings. Former Nationals player and current Phillies superstar Bryce Harper came to the plate in the seventh and tied things up.
That was Harper's sixth career Opening Day homer, which is tied for the most among active players. Take note that Tyler O'Neill hit his sixth straight Opening Day home run earlier on Thursday. The record is eight from Adam Dunn and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.
So Harper tied the game and then Alec Bohm made an out before Kyle Schwarber, another former Nationals player, came to the plate and gave the Phillies the lead.
Just like that, it was 2-1 Phillies. That's what this lineup can do in a hurry when you let them hang around.
In six innings. He threw 93 pitches, gave up one hit, and zero walks against a very good Phillies lineup. It's been a very long time since the last 13-strikeout, 0-walk performance on Opening day:
The 13 strikeouts are also the Nationals' franchise record on Opening Day. Max Scherzer had 12 one year.
