Tigers vs. Dodgers: Is a Cy Young Award Winner Showdown in Sight for Opening Day?
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch announced on Thursday, Feb. 27, that reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal will be the team’s Opening Day starter. The Tigers begin the 2025 season on the road against the defending World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, on Thursday, March 27.
The Dodgers have not announced who will be their starting pitcher, but SI.com suggests several options that could come into play, including Blake Snell.
During the offseason, the Dodgers acquired Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, to bolster their pitching roster. The left-handed pitcher has nine MLB seasons to his name and a 3.19 ERA across his career. His pitching arsenal ranges from a mid-’90s four-seamer to a curveball with a 48.9% whiff rate. His sliders are solid, and his sinker comes out of the box every now and then.
Beyond Snell, other pitchers in the running for opening-day starters include pitching veteran Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shohei Ohtani. While a lot is up in the air for Opening Day, Snell could get the privilege of starting if he plays his cards right.
Writing for SI.com, Ryan Reynolds highlighted the significance of Opening Day play between the Tigers and 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.”
