Detroit Tigers Opening Day Matchup Will Be Postseason-Caliber Pitchers' Duel
In this story:
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch officially announced reigning Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal as the team's Opening Day starter.
Starting the 2025 MLB campaign with the best pitcher in the American League isn't exactly a surprise, but it does make one think about that matchup.
The Tigers will start the year on the road against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, March 27, 2025 with first pitch set for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN in front of a national audience.
The Dodgers have yet to announce who will be taking the mound for them, but they have several options to choose from.
Last year, they opened the season in Seoul, South Korea against the San Diego Padres. Veteran Tyler Glasnow started that game for Los Angeles. He is currently projected to open the year as the third starter, and thus unlikely to start the first game against Detroit since the Dodgers will have already played two games in Japan against the Chicago Cubs.
He'll likely be pushed to the fourth spot once Shohei Ohtani returns to the mound in May.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto warrants consideration, but he is expected to start one of the games in Japan. He was good in his limited action last year with a 7-2 record, 3.00 ERA and a 1.7 bWAR over 90 innings. A triceps injury sidelined him from mid-June until mid-September. He's had a rocky spring so far giving up seven hits and three runs in just four innings over two appearances.
That brings the conversation to Blake Snell, who Los Angeles acquired this offseason in a classic case of the rich getting richer.
Snell is a two-time Cy Young winner, taking the award once in each league.
His last Cy Young win came in 2023 with the Padres. Snell only made 20 appearances for the San Francisco Giants last year, with an early stint on the injured list followed by another in June.
Snell is a lefty with nine Major League seasons under his belt and a career 3.19 ERA. He has a five-pitch arsenal, with a mid 90's four seamer, a nasty curveball with a 49.8% whiff rate and a changeup leading the way. He also throws a solid slider, and once or twice a year, he'll break out a sinker.
Detroit could face all three of these pitchers during their three-game road trip to Los Angeles to start the year.
A lot can change over the next month, but chances are Snell gets the nod for the Dodgers.
The top of the Tigers rotation is one of the few in the league that can compete with Los Angeles, and that first game between two of the league's best lefties will be appointment viewing.
Skubal versus Snell could even end up being a preview to Game 1 of the 2025 World Series.
Recommended Articles
Ryan Reynolds has worked in sports media since 2019, where he’s primarily covered the NFL. He got his start writing for Evan Silva and Adam Levitan’s Establish the Run where Ryan became an authority on NFL awards markets. Ryan recently served as an Associate Director and content headliner for former NFL executives Joe Banner and Mike Tannenbaum at The 33rd Team. Ryan has also made multiple guest appearances on Fantasy Sports Radio on SiriusXM and VSiN. Outside of sports Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, graduating with honors from the University of Minnesota. He now has nearly a decade’s worth of experience in management. You can find Ryan on X @RyanReynoldsNFL or email him at RyanReynoldsNFL@gmail.com.