Shohei Ohtani leads five World Baseball Classic stars as starting pitchers on MLB Opening Day
The Major League Baseball (MLB) 2023 season will take off on Thursday, 30 March. For the first time since the 1968 season, each MLB club will take the field on opening day.
The clubs announced the 30 starting pitchers. The impressive list includes 21 All-Stars and eight Cy Young Award winners: Sandy Alcantara, Shane Bieber, Corbin Burnes, Jacob deGrom, Zack Greinke, Corey Kluber, Max Scherzer and Blake Snell.
World Baseball Classic MVP Shohei Ohtani will take the mound for the Los Angeles Angels in Oakland against the A's. He won't face archrival Mike Trout, who is supposed to bat right in front of him in the Angels' lineup. The A's only player with international experience is catcher Shea Langeliers, who played for the US Collegiate National Team in 2019.
Four other opening day starters played in the World Baseball Classic 2023. After contributing to the United States title in 2017, Marcus Stroman of the Chicago Cubs helped Puerto Rico reach the semifinals in 2023. Miles Mikolas of the St Louis Cardinals was on the US silver medal roster. Eduardo Rodriguez of the Detroit Tigers played for Venezuela, while Los Angeles Dodgers star Julio Urias represented Mexico.
Early in his career, Urias represented Mexico at the youth international level. He pitched out of the bullpen in the WBSC World Youth Baseball Championship in 2011.
The Cincinnati Reds starter Hunter Greene is a WBSC veteran. He helped the United States win the U-18 Baseball World Cup 2015 and contributed to a U-15 World Cup silver medal the year before. The 23-year-old will become the youngest pitcher to start on opening day.
Kyle Gibson of the Baltimore Orioles played in the 2008 World University Championship.
The new MLB brand campaign Baseball is Something Else began running on opening day eve. The campaign modernizes baseball nostalgia and explores why baseball’s fan experience is so incomparable. A series of creative spots showcase the new rules introduced with the 2023 season.
Opening Day will begin at 1 pm US Eastern Time in Washington, DC (Atlanta Braves @ Nationals) and New York City (San Francisco Giants @ Yankees). Angels @ Athletics in Oakland, Arizona Diamondbacks @ Dodgers in Los Angeles and Cleveland Guardians @ Mariners in Seattle will be the last games to start at 10 pm US ET.