MLB Opening Day Schedule 2017: Times, Live Stream and Predictions for All Games

The long winter of our discontent has finally come to an end with the start of the 2017 Major League Baseball season. 

Sunday will mark the official start of the season with a tripleheader that culminates with the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs kicking off their title defense at Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The remaining 24 teams will take the field for the first time on Monday with the dream of ending 2017 carrying the Commissioner's Trophy as the best team in MLB.

Date	Matchup	Start Time (ET)	Prediction
Date	Matchup	Start Time (ET)	Prediction
Sunday, April 2	New York Yankees (Masahiro Tanaka) at Tampa Bay Rays (Chris Archer)	1:10 p.m.	Rays, 3-2
Sunday, April 2	San Francisco Giants (Madison Bumgarner) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Zack Greinke)	4:10 p.m.	Giants, 5-3
Sunday, April 2	Chicago Cubs (Jon Lester) at St. Louis Cardinals (Carlos Martinez)	8:35 p.m.	Cubs, 6-4
Monday, April 3	Miami Marlins (Edinson Volquez) at Washington Nationals (Stephen Strasburg)	1:05 p.m.	Nationals, 7-2
Monday, April 3	Atlanta Braves (Julio Teheran) at New York Mets (Noah Syndergaard)	1:10 p.m.	Mets, 2-1
Monday, April 3	Pittsburgh Pirates (Gerrit Cole) at Boston Red Sox (Rick Porcello)	2:05 p.m.	Pirates, 5-4
Monday, April 3	Colorado Rockies (Jon Gray) at Milwaukee Brewers (Junior Guerra)	2:10 p.m.	Rockies, 7-5
Monday, April 3	Toronto Blue Jays (Marco Estrada) at Baltimore Orioles (Kevin Gausman)	3:05 p.m.	Orioles, 8-6
Monday, April 3	Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander) at Chicago White Sox (Jose Quintana)	4:10 p.m.	Tigers, 4-2
Monday, April 3	Kansas City Royals (Danny Duffy) at Minnesota Twins (Ervin Santana)	4:10 p.m.	Royals, 3-1
Monday, April 3	Philadelphia Phillies (Jeremy Hellickson) at Cincinnati Reds (Scott Feldman)	4:10 p.m.	Reds, 4-2
Monday, April 3	San Diego Padres (Jhoulys Chacin) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw)	4:10 p.m.	Dodgers, 5-0
Monday, April 3	Cleveland Indians (Corey Kluber) at Texas Rangers (Yu Darvish)	7:05 p.m.	Rangers, 5-4
Monday, April 3	Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez) at Houston Astros (Dallas Keuchel)	8:10 p.m.	Mariners, 6-5
Monday, April 3	Los Angeles Angels (Jesse Chavez) at Oakland Athletics (Kendall Graveman)	10:05 p.m.	Angels, 7-5

All games streaming on MLB.tv (subscription required)

Best Pitching Matchup: Corey Kluber vs. Yu Darvish

Elsa Garrison/Associated Press

One reason Opening Day feels special is because it's the one day of the regular season in which fans are guaranteed to see the best pitchers on both teams matched up. 

That's not more apparent than in Texas, where the defending American League champion Cleveland Indians will send Corey Kluber to the mound against Rangers ace Yu Darvish. 

Since Kluber's breakout season in 2014, when he won the American League Cy Young award, it would be hard to find two better pitchers in MLB over that span.

Player	K/9 IP	HR/9 IP	BAA	ERA	FIP
Kluber	9.91	0.78	.225	3.01	2.84
Darvish	11.55	0.92	.229	3.20	2.94

Kluber holds a heavy edge in innings pitched (672.2 to 244.2) because Darvish missed the entire 2015 season due to Tommy John surgery. 

With Darvish now fully healthy after pitching 100.1 innings last season, big things are expected for the Rangers right-hander in 2017. 

Rangers manager Jeff Banister explained the decision to go with Darvish on opening day, ahead of Cole Hamels, per T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com:

"

No. 1 was overall health. Not only with the arm, but the body, how he rebounded from his rehab and the number of starts and innings last year. Secondly, what kind of shape he was in. He's in great shape. Mentally … the laser-sharp focus. He wants to be the best pitcher on the planet. He has rebounded from every bullpen session and every outing. He is healthy and ready to go.

"

The Indians also waited to officially name Kluber their Opening Day starter, a job he's had each of the previous two seasons, because he threw a career-high 249.1 innings last season between the regular season and playoffs. 

Beyond just the overall performance of Darvish and Kluber, their raw ability is filthy and explains why they are able to dominate lineups every single year. 

The Indians and Rangers have every reason to expect success in 2017. They could easily end up meeting in a postseason series down the road, but the journey starts on Opening Day for both teams.

Most Intriguing Matchup: Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

The Mariners-Astros meeting on Opening Day is must-see television because of how both teams fared last season, despite disappointing performances from their aces and expectations for this season. 

Player	IP	ERA	FIP	HR/9 IP	HR/FB%	WAR
Keuchel	168.0	4.55	3.87	1.07	16.4	2.7
Hernandez	153.1	3.82	4.63	1.12	14.5	1.0

Considering how badly Dallas Keuchel, who came out of nowhere to win the 2015 AL Cy Young award, and Felix Hernandez looked throughout the 2016 season, it's a minor miracle both teams finished over .500. 

The magic of the offseason is it gives players a chance to wipe the slate clean. Keuchel told MLB.com's Brian McTaggart in February he pitched all of last season with shoulder pain.

"It was basically I tried to pitch through an injury I should have said something with, and I learned my lesson," he said. "If you say something from the beginning, you'll be better off. That's something that I'll do."

If either pitcher is going to pitch closer to their once-high standards, Keuchel gets the edge over Hernandez. His problems last year were attributable, at least in part, due to a physical problem that is hopefully corrected heading into this season. 

Hernandez is at a point in his career where a back end starter is probably what he's going to be. According to Fangraphs, his average fastball velocity hit a career-low 90.5 mph. Hitters from both sides of the plate crushed his sinker. Right-handed hitters posted a .648 slugging percentage against the pitch, while lefties clubbed a .588 slugging percentage, per Brooks Baseball.

While Hernandez is only 30 years old, he's been pitching in the big leagues since he was 19 years old and already has 2,415 innings on his arm. 

It will take more than one game to properly judge what kind of year Hernandez and Keuchel are going to have in 2017, but both pitchers need strong bounce backs if their respective teams will make a run to the playoffs.