The 2026 season has arrived, starting with a 7-0<\/a> blowout victory for the New York Yankees<\/a> over the San Francisco Giants<\/a> on Wednesday night and continuing with season openers for the rest of MLB on Thursday and Friday. Whether it’s ace showdowns, powerhouse matchups or new faces in new places you want to see, there is something for everyone.<\/p>\n What are we looking for as the season gets started? Here’s our takeaway from each completed game and a pregame look at what you need to know for the remaining games (including lineups, each team’s initial 2026 Power Ranking<\/a> and final offseason grade<\/a>).<\/p>\n Jump to: Live updates<\/a> | Lineups<\/a> | Takeaways<\/a> | Friday games<\/a><\/p>\n Live updates<\/p>\n First pitch: 8:30 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Zac Gallen<\/a> vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a><\/p>\n What to know about the D-backs<\/p>\n Power ranking: 19 | Offseason grade: C+<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: After an offseason of Ketel Marte<\/a> trade rumors, the Diamondbacks opted to keep their All-Star second baseman and also re-signed Opening Day starter Gallen. Though he is not the superstar he was earlier in his career, Nolan Arenado<\/a> is the big-name addition here and Arizona also reunited with right-hander Merrill Kelly<\/a>, a key member of the 2023 NL champion team.<\/p>\n What to know about the Dodgers<\/p>\n Power ranking: 1 | Offseason grade: A<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: Since we last saw the Dodgers celebrating their Game 7 World Series win, all they’ve done is go out and fill their two biggest holes (left field and closer) in the grandest fashion possible by signing Kyle Tucker<\/a> and Edwin Diaz<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lineups<\/p>\n D-backs Dodgers First pitch: 10:10 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Tanner Bibee<\/a> vs. Logan Gilbert<\/a><\/p>\n What to know about the Guardians<\/p>\n Power ranking: 20 | Offseason grade: D+<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: N\/A. Coming off a surprising AL Central title run, it was a very quiet winter in Cleveland.<\/p>\n What to know about the Mariners<\/p>\n Power ranking: 2 | Offseason grade: A-<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: After their 2026 ended one win shy of the first World Series appearance in franchise history, the Mariners made a late-offseason splash when they traded for versatile infielder Brendan Donovan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lineups<\/p>\n Guardians Mariners The Cardinals came back to beat the Rays on Alec Burleson<\/a>‘s home run that capped an eight-run sixth inning, and that wasn’t the only sobering development for Tampa Bay. St. Louis deployed a strategy that might haunt dangerous Rays slugger Junior Caminero<\/a> all season after he blasted 45 homers last year. The Cardinals walked him in four of his six plate appearances, refusing to throw him fastballs. Given his bat speed and power, Caminero might face this game plan all summer, unless teammates around him in the Tampa Bay lineup do damage. Caminero, who drew only 41 walks in 2025, might have to wait for pitches to hit this year. — Buster Olney <\/p>\n It’s Opening Day. Everyone is allowed to dream big, such as dreaming about a vintage Mike Trout<\/a> season. This game looked like Trout circa 2016 or so. His 403-foot home run that broke a scoreless game in the seventh was a classic Trout swing, golfing a low fastball to left field. In his heyday, nobody hit a low fastball better than Trout. He walked three times. He played center field. He even stole a base, which gives him half his total from last season.<\/p>\n As for the Astros, their concerns heading into the season were lineup depth and bullpen depth. They didn’t score, and the bullpen allowed all three runs. — David Schoenfield<\/p>\n After some aces got touched up in their first outings of the year, Cristopher Sanchez<\/a> threw a masterful — and typical — six innings for the Phillies. Texas managed just three hits, didn’t draw a walk and struck out 10 times, including the final three batters Sanchez faced. The last was particularly nasty, a left-on-left changeup — one of the hardest pitches to throw effectively — that got Corey Seager<\/a> swinging.<\/p>\n Buoyed by a pair of home runs, Sanchez filled in admirably for Zack Wheeler on Opening Day. And with his return to a rotation that already includes Jesus Luzardo<\/a> and Aaron Nola<\/a> coming, the Phillies have reason to feel good well beyond Opening Day. — Jeff Passan<\/p>\n The Tigers’ season opener played out as if manager A.J. Hinch had drawn up a script. Tarik Skubal<\/a>, winner of back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards, pitched out of first-inning trouble against the Padres, with help from his changeup, and allowed just an unearned run in six innings, hard-launching his season. Touted prospect Kevin McGonigle<\/a> started his career with two doubles and an infield single; he finally made his first out in the seventh inning then picked up his fourth hit on a ninth-inning single. Dillon Dingler<\/a> obliterated a two-run homer deep to left field. And Javier Baez<\/a> extended an at-bat with an ABS challenge and ripped a single on the next pitch. A near-perfect game on a perfect San Diego day. — Buster Olney<\/p>\n It’s always nice when your biggest stars show up on Opening Day, and that’s what happened with the Red Sox. Garrett Crochet<\/a>, aiming to end Tarik Skubal’s run of Cy Young Awards, pitched six scoreless innings. Crochet escaped a one-out bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning of a scoreless game, striking out Eugenio Suarez<\/a> and Spencer Steer<\/a>. Roman Anthony<\/a>, who hit leadoff and went 3-for-4 with a walk and is already a star. He will score a ton of runs. And let’s call Garrett Whitlock<\/a> and Aroldis Chapman<\/a> the other big stars for the Red Sox. The relief duo was dominant a year ago and closed this one out after the Red Sox tacked on a couple of late runs. — David Schoenfield<\/p>\n Baltimore’s new-look rotation had a similar feel to last year, at least for Opening Day. Trevor Rogers<\/a>, who sported the best ERA in the American League last year from May 24 until the end of the season — yes, even better than Tarik Skubal<\/a> — navigated around four walks and a hit-by-pitch to spin seven scoreless innings. His fastball wasn’t overwhelming but it got outs, and Rogers carved the Minnesota Twins’ iffy lineup, which mustered a run off Tyler Wells<\/a> in the eighth inning before Ryan Helsley<\/a> shut them down in the ninth to secure his first save as Orioles closer. In the gnarly American League East, every out-of-division win matters, and Baltimore has its first. — Jeff Passan<\/p>\n A howling wind knocked down one ball for him, but Matthew Boyd<\/a> didn’t look like the pitcher who made the All-Star team last season and was a member of Team USA in this year’s World Baseball Classic. He gave up six earned runs to the lowly Nationals, who jumped on all sorts of hittable pitches during a six-run fourth inning.<\/p>\n It was more runs than Boyd gave up in any start last season. He was chased after just 3\u2154 innings after the Cubs handed him a 2-1 lead. The veteran lefty faded some down the stretch last year, so was this a sign of things to come or a simple Day 1 bad outing? The good news is he struck out seven batters over the first three innings before falling apart. — Jesse Rogers<\/p>\n A year ago, 37 games separated the 97-65 Brewers from the 60-102 White Sox in the MLB-level standings. Despite projections that suggested the gap had narrowed, Opening Day certainly felt like it has not. The Brewers began the day with the unexpected news that Jackson Chourio<\/a> had landed on the injured list, but that didn’t stop them from dominating the White Sox in every phase. From Jacob Misiorowski<\/a>‘s franchise-record 11 Opening Day strikeouts to the strike zone dominance of the entire Brewers lineup, it was no contest from the early innings. Even the sausage race, won by the Italian Sausage, was a blowout. For now, 2026 looks for both teams a lot like 2025. But it was, after all, only one game. — Bradford Doolittle<\/p>\n That’s not how anyone envisioned Paul Skenes<\/a> would launch his NL Cy Young Award defense. An unusual lack of execution combined with misfortune and terrible defense behind him produced the worst start of Skenes’ young career. The right-hander gave up five runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter over just two-thirds of an inning. The Mets’ first two hits were a bloop single and a swinging bunt, but they made Skenes work. New York fouled off 10 of his 37 pitches and, other than Carson Benge<\/a>‘s strikeout on three whiffs in his first career plate appearance, swung through just two. And yet Skenes would’ve escaped the trouble had center fielder Oneil Cruz<\/a> not botched back-to-back routine plays, which led to four runs instead of the end of the inning. If Cruz makes those plays, Skenes gets through the inning and could’ve rebounded. But he wasn’t sharp, and it cost him. — Jorge Castillo<\/p>\n Wednesday game<\/p>\n It has become something close to a legal obligation to assess the Yankees’ offseason by using the words run it back. But lost in the implied criticism of the team’s offseason, which included no splashy additions, is this: The guys they’re running it back with are pretty good.<\/p>\n In the first game of the 2026 season, a stand-alone spectacle at Oracle Park that was long on pomp and short on suspense, Max Fried<\/a> cruised through 6\u2153 innings, allowing just two hits and one runner past first base, as the Yankees beat the Giants and made rookie manager Tony Vitello’s debut<\/a> one he’ll probably want to forget.<\/p>\n Vitello became the first person to go directly from college head coach to big league manager, and Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey made the out-of-the-box decision in part to inject the former Tennessee head coach’s unique brand of energy and intensity into a team that has hovered around .500 for the past four seasons. But a pitcher like Fried can sap the energy of even the most rabid group, and with him on the mound, the Yankees’ five-run second inning made the outcome all but inevitable. — Tim Keown<\/p>\n First pitch: 7:07 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Luis Severino<\/a> vs. Kevin Gausman<\/a><\/p>\n What to know about the Athletics<\/p>\n Power ranking: 23 | Offseason grade: D<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: It wasn’t the splashiest offseason for the Athletics, but their biggest move was adding veteran Jeff McNeil<\/a> to their already-promising lineup in a trade with the Mets.<\/p>\n What to know about the Blue Jays<\/p>\n Power ranking: 4 | Offseason grade: B+<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: The Blue Jays showed they’re serious about getting back to the World Series after their crushing Game 7 loss to the Dodgers when they lavished top free agent starter Dylan Cease<\/a> with a seven-year, $210 million deal.<\/p>\n First pitch: 7:15 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Kyle Freeland<\/a> vs. Sandy Alcantara<\/a><\/p>\n What to know about the Rockies<\/p>\n Power ranking: 30 | Offseason grade: C-<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: It’s a whole new ballgame for the Rockies, who turned their baseball operations department over to former Cleveland Browns<\/a> (yes, you read that right<\/a>) exec Paul DePodesta.<\/p>\n What to know about the Marlins<\/p>\n Power ranking: 25 | Offseason grade: C+<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: Acquired in an offseason trade with the Cubs for starter Edward Cabrera<\/a>, Owen Caissie<\/a> is an outfielder with the kind of offensive upside the Marlins have been craving.<\/p>\n First pitch: 7:15 p.m. ET | Pitching matchup: Cole Ragans<\/a> vs. Chris Sale<\/a><\/p>\n What to know about the Royals<\/p>\n Power ranking: 15 | Offseason grade: C<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: You won’t see it until they head to K.C. for their home opener, but the Royals’ most notable offseason change came when they decided to move the fences in at Kauffman Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n Top MLB prospects for 2026 Where do stars of tomorrow land as we rank baseball’s best young players?<\/p>\n Top 100 prospects \u00bb<\/a> | 101-200 \u00bb<\/a> What to know about the Braves<\/p>\n Power ranking: 10 | Offseason grade: B+<\/p>\n Biggest change since we saw them last: Mike Yastrzemski<\/a> was originally signed as a fourth outfielder in a busy offseason for the Braves, but his role became even more important when Jurickson Profar<\/a> was suspended for the entire 2026 season after his second positive PED test<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mar 26, 2026, 08:50 PM ET Happy MLB Opening Day! The 2026 season has arrived, starting with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-566786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1752936309_868_greyline.png\")
<\/p>\nThursday games<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774575130_483_ari.png&h=60&w=60.png\")
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Ketel Marte<\/a> (S) 2B
Corbin Carroll<\/a> (L) RF
Geraldo Perdomo<\/a> (S) SS
Gabriel Moreno<\/a> (R) C
Pavin Smith<\/a> (L) DH
Nolan Arenado<\/a> (R) 3B
Carlos Santana<\/a> (S) 1B
Alek Thomas<\/a> (L) CF
Jordan Lawlar<\/a> (R) LF<\/p>\n
Shohei Ohtani<\/a> (L) DH
Kyle Tucker<\/a> (L) RF
Mookie Betts<\/a> (R) SS
Freddie Freeman<\/a> (L) 1B
Will Smith<\/a> (R) C
Max Muncy<\/a> (L) 3B
Teoscar Hernandez<\/a> (R) LF
Andy Pages<\/a> (R) CF
Miguel Rojas<\/a> (R) 2B<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774575130_322_cle.png&h=60&w=60.png\")
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Steven Kwan<\/a> (L) LF
Chase DeLauter<\/a> (L) RF
Jose Ramirez<\/a> (S) 3B
Kyle Manzardo<\/a> (L) DH
Bo Naylor<\/a> (L) C
Rhys Hoskins<\/a> (R) 1B
Daniel Schneemann<\/a> (L) CF
Gabriel Arias<\/a> (R) SS
Brayan Rocchio<\/a> (S) 2B<\/p>\n
Brendan Donovan<\/a> (L) 3B
Cal Raleigh<\/a> (S) C
Julio Rodriguez<\/a> (R) CF
Josh Naylor<\/a> (L) 1B
Randy Arozarena<\/a> (R) LF
Luke Raley<\/a> (L) RF
Dominic Canzone<\/a> (L) DH
Cole Young<\/a> (L) 2B
Leo Rivas<\/a> (S) SS<\/p>\nTakeawaysThursday games<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774575131_929_stl.png&h=60&w=60.png\")
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<\/p>\nFriday games<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774575139_3_ath.png&h=60&w=60.png\")
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Ranking all 30 MLB farm systems \u00bb<\/a>
Top 10 prospect lists for all 30 teams \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n