MLB opening day marks the start of a long baseball season. Take a look at the 2024 matchups, rule changes and more about the professional league.
Grab your peanuts and Cracker Jack. MLB opening day is here.
This year, opening day falls on March 28. All 30 teams were scheduled for games that day, but two were postponed due to weather.
Read on to find out when your team is playing, rule changes for the season and more.
HISTORICAL MLB OPENING DAY STATS FROM SELLOUTS TO RECORD HOLDERS
Opening day marks the start of a long season of baseball. This day marks the beginning of the MLB regular season. It typically occurs at the end of March or the beginning of April.
In 2024, the MLB season started with a Dodgers-Padres matchup in Korea. Following that series, all 30 teams were scheduled to play March 28, 2024, for opening day. But the weather was not on the side of all the MLB teams. Due to rain, the games scheduled for opening day between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets have been postponed until Friday.
Adjustments to schedules are not the only regular-season changes fans should be aware of. For 2024, a lot of rules changes are aimed at quickening the pace of the game.
In 2024, the time between pitches will be reduced from 20 seconds to 18 seconds, according to a statement released by the MLB.
If a new pitcher steps onto the warning track with less than two minutes remaining on the clock, the clock will reset to 2:00. In 2023, the clock was reset to 2:15, according to the MLB.
The number of mound visits allowed will be reduced in 2024 from five per game to four.
Another big change coming in 2024 is that a pitcher who warms up for an inning must pitch to at least one batter, according to the MLB.
A more physical change made for the 2024 season is the widening of a runner’s lane. Now, this area will include the dirt area located between the foul line and the infield grass.
The MLB is split into two leagues, the American League and the National League. There are 15 teams in each league. Each league is divided into three divisions — East, Central and West.
The teams that make up the AL East are the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. The Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins are all part of AL Central. The AL West includes the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.
The Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals are all in the NL East. The Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals are all part of NL Central. Lastly, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants play in the NL West.
The 2023 World Series was won by the Texas Rangers, who beat the Arizona Diamondbacks for the title.
The New York Yankees have the most titles of any team with 27. In fact, the Yankees were the last team to be back-to-back World Series winners. They won three titles in a row from 1998 to 2000.
Following behind the Yankees are the St. Louis Cardinals with eleven wins, the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics, both with nine, and the San Francisco Giants with eight.
