Blake Snell’s 2025 season is poised to begin on a much more stable footing compared to his previous year. After a turbulent start with the San Francisco Giants, Snell is entering this season with the Los Angeles Dodgers with significantly more preparation.
Blake Snell To Make Los Angeles Dodgers Debut At Home Opener
He is set to take the mound against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, March 27, at Dodger Stadium. This home opener is not just a highly anticipated event; it also features the only Opening Day pitching matchup in Major League Baseball between two former Cy Young Award winners. Despite this being the official MLB Opening Day, the Dodgers have already begun their season with two wins against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo.
The Tigers will counter with left-hander Tarik Skubal, the 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner, who led the league in ERA, strikeouts, and wins. Snell, of course, brings his own Cy Young accolades from his dominant seasons in 2018 and 2023.
Snell’s arrival in Los Angeles followed a significant offseason acquisition by the Dodgers, who signed him to a five-year, $182 million contract on November 30. This deal reunited him with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who originally drafted him while with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011. “Being able to pitch in a packed stadium, to make moments for people — this is where you want to play,” Snell said during his introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium in December. “Knowing Andrew as well as I know him, that played a big part. It all started because he believed in me.”
Snell has been diligently building his workload during spring training, which included two starts in Cactus League play and an exhibition appearance against the Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome. In that game, he struck out seven of the 18 batters he faced and retired the first nine, before allowing three runs in the fourth inning. He later confirmed that he pitched a simulated game on March 22 to maintain his schedule for the Dodgers’ home opener.
Following Snell’s start, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, who started the two-game series in Tokyo, will pitch on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Dodgers will have a day off on Sunday before Tyler Glasnow and Dustin May start the team’s series against the Atlanta Braves.