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2019 MLB Season: Breaking Down the Best Opening Day Matchups

By Ben Fadden

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 16: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox, manager A.J. Hinch of the Houston Astros, manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals walk through the concourse during All-Star Workout Day at Nationals Park Monday, July 16, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 16: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox, manager A.J. Hinch of the Houston Astros, manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals walk through the concourse during All-Star Workout Day at Nationals Park Monday, July 16, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /
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2019 MLB season, Opening Day
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

The best day of the year, Opening Day is just two days away!  We will be looking at the best three matchups to kick off the 2019 MLB season.

Opening Day is coming up and it is known as a day of celebration for not just the fans, but the team as well after they just finished up the long grind of spring training in preparation for the 2019 MLB season.

It is the only day of the year that all of the top pitchers in the game like Chris Sale, Max Scherzer, and Jacob deGrom pitch to be on top of the division after Day One. They will get to go up against star hitters like Mike Trout and Mookie Betts.

There are some disappointing matchups due to some injuries, and the managers treating Opening Day as just one game and there is 161 more of them.

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler will not be on the mound when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Instead, it will be Hyun-Jin Ryu pitching in his first Opening Day start.

Luis Severino will not be on the hill for the New York Yankees come Thursday because of Luis Severino’s shoulder injury. Yankees fans will get to see Masahiro Tanaka face the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium.

There are still some good matchups though. Miles Mikolas is fresh off of an extension and he will go up against the NL Central Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Indians’ Corey Kluber will be on the mound yet again for Opening Day with Minnesota Twins going with their ace, Jose Berrios.

Jon Lester is pitching for the Cubs in their matchup against the Texas Rangers, and Chris Sale will take the ball in their opener at T-Mobile Park against the Seattle Mariners who have already played their first two games of their 2019 MLB season in Tokyo.

Padres manager Andy Green also made a surprising decision in making Eric Lauer the Opening Day starter vs the Giants instead of top prospect Chris Paddack or Joey Lucchesi.

So, there are great matchups all around the league, but let’s get into the top three to watch on Opening Day!

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