Diamondbacks Opening Day 2024: Everything to know about the game, MLB schedule
Welcome to MLB Opening Day, one of the most anticipated dates on the sports calendar.
Once again, all 30 MLB teams were scheduled to play the same day, Thursday, March 28, and that includes the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, who technically opened the 2024 season by splitting a pair of games last week in Seoul, South Korea.
Already, Mother Nature has thrown a wrinkle into MLB's plans, as weather has forced the postponement of two games: Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets, and Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies. A third game, Los Angeles Angels at Baltimore Orioles, is also being threatened by rain.
The Arizona Diamondbacks begin defense of their National League pennant at 7:10 p.m. against the Colorado Rockies. Gates at Chase Field open at 5 p.m. Cardinals Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner is scheduled to throw out the first pitch.
Here's everything to know about MLB Opening Day 2024:
When is MLB Opening Day?
Opening Day 2024 across Major League Baseball is Thursday, March 28.
How can I watch the Diamondbacks' opening-day game?
The Diamondbacks' season-opening game against the Colorado Rockies starts at 7:10 p.m. The team said limited tickets are available, and of course, there is always the secondary (re-sale) market.
The game will be televised in a variety of ways. The Diamondbacks on Thursday morning announced the following outlets for the 2024 MLB season:
Cox: Channel 34 in Phoenix, channel 26 in Tucson.
Spectrum: Channels 304 and 444.
Comcast: Channel 1261
DirecTV: Channel 686
Diamondbacks games also are available via streaming service via dbacks.tv for $19.99 per month or $99.99 for the full regular season by visiting dbacks.com/watch.
More MLB: 5 most important questions for the Diamondbacks ahead of Opening Day
What's the MLB 2024 opening day schedule?
Here is the MLB 2024 Opening Day schedule, with scheduled starting pitchers and, when applicable, national TV availability (all times MST):
Los Angeles Angels (Patrick Sandoval) at Baltimore Orioles (Corbin Burnes), 12:05 p.m.
Washington Nationals (Josiah Gray) at Cincinnati Reds (Frankie Montas), 1:10 p.m.
Detroit Tigers (Tarik Skubal) at Chicago White Sox (Garrett Crochet), 1:10 p.m.
Minnesota Twins (Pablo Lopez) at Kansas City Royals (Cole Ragans), 1:10 p.m.
New York Yankees (Nestor Cortes Jr.) at Houston Astros (Framber Valdez), 1:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh Pirates (Mitch Keller) at Miami Marlins (Jesus Luzardo), 1:10 p.m.
San Francisco Giants (Logan Webb) at San Diego Padres (Yu Darvish), 1:10 p.m.
Toronto Blue Jays (Jose Berrios) at Tampa Bay Rays (Zach Eflin), 1:10 p.m.
St. Louis Cardinals (Miles Mikolas) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow), 1:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Justin Steele) at Texas Rangers (Nathan Eovaldi), 4:45 p.m.
Cleveland Guardians (Shane Bieber) at Oakland Athletics (Alex Wood), 7:07 p.m.
Boston Red Sox (Brayan Bello) at Seattle Mariners (Luis Castillo), 7:10 p.m.
Colorado Rockies (Kyle Freeland) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Zac Gallen), 7:10 p.m.
Read more: Cardinals legend to throw out first pitch at Diamondbacks Opening Day
What to know about the Diamondbacks stadium?
The Diamondbacks begin their 27th MLB season at Chase Field, their home in downtown Phoenix since the franchise's inception in 1999. The retractable-domed stadium, known across MLB for its iconic swimming pool in right-center field, is currently the subject of much speculation regarding its future. Will the team be able to renovate the facility to keep it in step with the newer venues across baseball? Will the Diamondbacks look to move to new digs elsewhere in the Valley?
The most pressing issue facing the Diamondbacks is the situation with the roof, which for a third consecutive season will not be able to be opened or closed while fans are in the building.
The Diamondbacks continue to be concerned that an issue with the roof might cause a cable to snap during roof movement, potentially threatening anyone in the stadium. The team has to make a determination before the gates open whether to have the roof open or keep it shut. Generally, the Diamondbacks err on the side of caution based on the weather forecast, but that came back to haunt them on Monday when, with the roof open, an unexpected storm came through the Phoenix area while a preseason game was being played. Since the roof could not be closed, the game had to be canceled out of concern for players' safety.
After that incident, Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall said this week that the team knows of a possible fix that should solve the issue, but it cannot start until next offseason.
On a positive note, the DBacks have spent about $6 million in upgrades to the lighting and sound systems. About two-thirds of that money went into the installation of new LED lighting, which got a trial run in the rain-shortened preseason game on Monday. The players seem to like it, as Nick Piecoro reported on Thursday.
“I thought they were pretty cool,” Diamondbacks center fielder Alek Thomas said. “They’re really bright. The turf looks different. Everything looks different, more white and it more brings out the color of everything. Before it was like yellow and dull. Now the field looks huge. It didn’t used to look like that.”
Who to watch for on the Diamondbacks Opening Day?
The Diamondbacks' franchise player clearly is outfielder Corbin Carroll, who was the National League Rookie of the Year last season as well as a top-five NL MVP vote-getter. An All-Star in his first major-league season, Carroll stole 54 bases and scored 116 runs in 2023. He stole five more bags and scored 11 more runs in 17 playoff games.
Zac Gallen, the team's Opening Day starting pitcher, has finished top five in NL Cy Young voting in each of the past two seasons. In that time, he has recorded a 3.04 ERA and a 1.023 WHIP.
Other players to watch are second baseman Ketel Marte and first baseman Christian Walker. Marte posted a .844 OPS last season and hit .329 in the postseason. Walker is coming off of back-to-back Gold Glove years, and back-to-back seasons with 33 or more home runs.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks Opening Day 2024: What to know about game, MLB schedule
