Tanner Bibee is over the illness that prevented him from pitching on opening day, and he leads the Guardians against the Royals and Michael Wacha. Bibee pitches in his third season, now at age 26, already 22-12 with a 3.25 ERA. He owns a good strikeout rate and a low walk rate. On top of that, batters own a low .286 BABIP against him. The veteran Wacha stands as one of the most successful pitchers of the last fifteen years with a 101-62 record, a .620 winning percentage. From 2019 to 2021 it looked like his career was in trouble, but he is 38-14 with a 3.30 ERA since then.

Richard Fitts of the Red Sox gets the honor of battling Jacob deGrom of the Rangers as Texas hopes the ace can stay healthy for a season. Fitts posted an incongruent performance in his 2024 cup of coffee. He allowed seven walks and struck out just nine batters in 20 2/3 innings, but his ERA came in at 1.74. He did not allow a home run, and two of the runs against him were unearned. In the minors he produced a high K rate and a low walk rate. deGrom made three starts in 2024 after returning from surgery. He showed no rust as he struck out 14 and walked one in ten innings, helping him to a 1.69 ERA.

Innings eater JP Sears of the Athletics takes on Bryan Woo of the Mariners as Seattle goes for the split of the opening series. Sears pitched over 170 innings in each of the last two seasons despite a high ERA. He does limit hits despite a low strikeout rate. Woo lowered his ERA about 1.3 runs in 2024 compared to his rookie season, thanks in part to allowing just 13 walks in 121 1/3 innings.

Enjoy!