Dodgers set to welcome faithful fans for first home series of 2025 season
The Boys in Blue will welcome their faithful fans to Dodger Stadium for the first time since their 2024 World Series Championship today, which is Major League Baseball's official Opening Day.
In what will be the Dodgers' third game of the 2025 season, after kicking things off with a two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the Tokyo Series, they'll send newly-acquired left-handed ace Blake Snell to the mound against the Detroit Tigers and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.
First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Los Angeles' lineup, daunting for any pitcher, will be highlighted as always by their two-way phenom in Shohei Ohtani and former MVP Mookie Betts, who appears to have finally recovered from an illness that kept them out of their two games in Japan and two of the three games of the Freeway Series against the Los Angeles Angels to wrap up Spring Training.
Ohtani already has one home run on the season, setting him up to chase last season's total of 54, a career-high and one half of the history making 50 homer - 50 stolen base season he compiled in his first season with the Dodgers. Not to mention, he hasn't pitched since 2023, meaning that he could somehow top what he did last year while starting for the Boys in Blue. Ohtani is expected to return to the mound by at least June.
He'll likely hit leadoff, as he did all last season, followed by a slew of familiar faces — World Series MVP Freddie Freeman included — and some new additions, including outfielder Michael Conforto and South Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim.
Speaking of old friends, the Dodgers did lose a couple of key pieces in the months after the season ended, including starting pitcher Walker Buehler. He ended a six-year stint in Los Angeles by securing the final three outs in the 2024 World Series, topped off by a strikeout to end it all.
They'll follow up on Thursday's game at 7:10 p.m. on Friday, where they'll probably see another acquaintance in Jack Flaherty. He was a part of last year's team after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Tigers and turned into one of their key pieces as they secured their eighth title in franchise history. He re-signed with Detroit during the offseason on a multi-year deal.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who dazzled during the international opener against the Cubs, will start the second game of the series, followed by rookie Roki Sasaki.
