The Los Angeles Dodgers will open the regular season in Seoul, South Korea on March 20 against the San Diego Padres. The team has officially announced Tyler Glasnow as the opening day starter for 2024, according to USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale.
The Dodgers will start Glasnow in game one against Yu Darvish and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start game two against Joe Musgrove, according to Dodgers’ beat reporter Kirsten Watson.
Glasnow will make his second career opening day start when he takes the mound in Seoul. His last opening day start came in 2021 as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Dodgers Starting Rotation
The Los Angeles Dodgers traded for Glasnow from the Rays in December 2023. The Dodgers signed Glasnow to a five-year, $135 million contract to complete the trade.
“It’s somewhere I wanted to be my entire life. There was a short list of teams I wanted to go to, and the Dodgers were on it,” Glasnow said in his Dodgers introductory Zoom call, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Wexler. “They were very bullish in trying to get me, and I really appreciated that they thought so highly of me. I get to go home, I have my whole family there. It seemed like a no-brainer to me.”
Glasnow will pitch for his hometown team while he will be followed by 25-year-old Yamamoto. Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers in free agency. Yamamoto was one of, if not, the best players in Japan over the last few seasons. He has won the Sawamura Award, the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young, each of the last three seasons, according to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen.
The Dodgers rotation in 2024 will also include Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller. Kershaw and Buehler will both return from surgeries while Miller will look to build on a strong rookie season.
Miller started 22 games for the Dodgers in 2023. He was 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA and 119 strikeouts. Kershaw underwent shoulder surgery after the 2023 season and will begin the year on the IL. Buehler will also begin the season on the IL after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Glasnow on Opening Day
Glasnow will be the Dodgers’ sixth different opening day starter in the last six years. He follows Julio Urías, Buehler, Kershaw, Dustin May, and Hyun-jin Ryu. In his last opening day start in 2021, Glasnow pitched six scoreless innings, allowed just one hit and struck out six against the Miami Marlins.
In 2023 Glasnow made 22 starts for the Rays and ended with a 10-7 record. He had a 3.35 ERA after making just two starts in the previous season. Glasnow had a 3.20 ERA during his time with the Rays.
On February 22, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called it a “safe bet” that Glasnow and Yamamoto would be the starters for the two-game series against the Padres, according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. As a result, both pitchers have gotten plenty of action during spring training as preparation.
Glasnow has pitched 4.1 innings across his two starts. He has allowed just one run and four hits while striking out six so far.
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