MLB Opening Day and Series | Players to Watch: Corbin Burnes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Bobby Witt Jr., Wyatt Langford, Ronald Acuna Jr. and More

Discussing some players to keep an eye on during the opening day of the 2024 MLB season.

MLB Opening Day is finally here! 

Well, at least it is for most of the league - as there’s a few postponements for Thursday games (by the way, how is it 2024 and not every MLB team has a retractable roof?).

Anyways, let’s discuss some players to watch on Opening Day and over the first few days of the season. We’ll break things down by each series.

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Angels at Orioles

All eyes will be on Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes on Opening Day. He’s making his first start for the Orioles after several strong seasons with the Brewers.

Los Angeles’ Mike Trout is healthy again, and fantasy owners are anxious to see if he can finally get in a full season. He’s been great when on the field, so we’ll see if Trout be a big fantasy asset right out of the gate.

Nationals at Reds

The Opening Day pitching matchup between Josiah Gray and Frankie Montas isn’t super exciting, but it should be to fantasy owners, as both guys could be major waiver wire pickups if they pitch well.

I’ll also be watching how the really young Reds’ lineup looks to start the season, and see if the injuries/suspensions to Matt McLain, TJ Friedl and Noelvi Marte are going to hamper the lineup in any way.

Giants at Padres

This is one of my favorite series in week one of the season. Among the starting pitchers in this series will be Logan Webb, Yu Darvish, Kyle Harrison, Joe Musgrove, Jordan Hicks, Dylan Cease and Michael King.

Both lineups are also loaded, but I’m most excited to see how Jung Hoo Lee plays in his first true MLB action.

Cardinals at Dodgers

This is another fun series and might help tell if the Cardinals can bounce back and contend for the NL Central title. 

There’s big names in both lineups and some interesting pitching matchups as well. I want to see if Miles Mikolas can get off to a strong start, and if Yoshinobu Yamamoto can keep the Cardinals’ lineup in check after a rough outing in the Seoul Series.

Blue Jays at Rays

This is a sneaky good series, with some intriguing pitching matchups and plenty of star power at the plate.

I’m keeping a close eye on Justin Turner in the heart of the Toronto lineup and Isaac Paredes in the heart of the Tampa Bay lineup.

Twins at Royals

This series isn’t necessarily that great, but the Opening Day pitching matchup between Pablo Lopez and Cole Ragans is one to watch.

I’m watching two young hitters (Royce Lewis and Bobby Witt Jr.) closely over the weekend.

Tigers at White Sox

Again, this is a bit of a lackluster series, but the Opening Day clash between Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet is one fantasy owners should keep an eye on.

I also want to see how Colt Keith plays in his first MLB regular season action.

Pirates at Marlins

I see these teams both being around .500 this season, but a sweep in this series could propel one of the team’s to a much better than anticipated season. 

I’m keeping an eye on new starter A.J. Puk, who is scheduled to start on Friday for Miami.

Yankees at Astros

This is one of the better series in week one, despite not having Gerrit Cole on the mound for New York. Nestor Cortes vs. Framber Valdez is a fun lefty matchup on Opening Day.

I’m also keeping an eye on power hitters Aaron Judge and Jose Abreu.

Cubs at Rangers

This should be a pretty fun series to kick off the season. We know the Rangers are contenders, but a solid showing from the Cubs could propel them to a big season.

Justin Steele vs. Nathan Eovaldi on Opening Day is a matchup to monitor. I’m also thrilled to see Wyatt Langford get his first true MLB action.

Guardians at Athletics

This is a pretty uninspiring series, mostly because the Athletics lack talent. But, that also means there’s several waiver wire options on the Oakland roster, so if anyone has a great opening series, they’ll be hot commodities.

Cleveland is powered by Jose Ramirez, so we’ll see if he can get off to a hot start.

Rockies at Diamondbacks 

I think everyone is anxious to see how Arizona starts the season after its playoff run last season. We get to see Zac Gallen and and probably Merrill Kelly in this series, which is always fun.

Nolan Jones has been a trendy name all fantasy draft season, so I’m intrigued to see if he can get rolling early for Colorado.

Red Sox at Mariners

There’s a lot of question marks surrounding Boston’s team as the season starts, while I’m personally expecting some big things from Seattle, so this series is a pretty fun one to me. Boston has a lot of youth and oft-injured players, while Seattle has a mix of proven veterans and rising stars.

The Opening Day pitching matchup between Brayan Bello and Luis Castillo should be good, and later in the series, we’ll also see George Kirby, Kutter Crawford, Logan Gilbert and others.

Brewers at Mets

Opening Day for the Brewers and Mets will be on Friday after Thursday’s game was postponed. Freddy Peralta and Jose Quintana are the pitching matchup for that contest.

As for hitters, I’m keeping an eye on Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio and New York’s Pete Alonso.

Braves at Phillies

The Atlanta, Philadelphia series will also open on Friday after a postponement. Spencer Strider and Zack Wheeler meet in the pitching matchup for the opener, which is about as good as it gets. We’ll also see Aaron Nola and Chris Sale during this series.

At the plate, there’s too many players to name that I’ll be watching, so we’ll stick with the top stars (Ronald Acuna Jr. and Bryce Harper).

#2024-fantasy-baseball