New York Yankees @ San Francisco Giants: Max Fried vs. Logan Webb

After a glacially slow winter and a spring that flew by, Opening Day is here! The Yankees begin their quest for No. 28 after the 2025 season ended in disappointing fashion, getting rolled by the Blue Jays in four games in the ALDS. The Giants meanwhile are hoping to get back to the postseason after missing out on the playoffs with a .500 or worse record in each of the last four seasons. They’ve made it to the playoffs just once since 2016.

San Francisco team president Buster Posey has overseen some major signings and trades already in his short tenure at the helm of the front office, perhaps none more noteworthy than hiring Tony Vitello as manager despite the former Tennessee Volunteers head coach possessing zero professional baseball experience either as a player or coach. The Yankees on the other hand were one of the least ambitious teams of the offseason, happy to run it back with last year’s squad and making only minor additions in hope of a better outcome. There’s new ground being broken this Opening Day, with Netflix hosting its first-ever MLB broadcast. It is blackout-free.

Advertisement

Max Fried is named the Opening Day starter for the first time with the Yankees after earning the distinction three times with the Braves. The 32-year-old southpaw has made four starts at Oracle Park in his career, pitching to a 2.59 ERA with a 23:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .209 batting average allowed across 24.1 innings. Look for him to lean on the cutter against the Giants’ righty-heavy lineup, a pitch which went from an afterthought to his most-frequently used pitch after joining the Yankees. Fried finished fourth in last year’s AL Cy Young race after going 19-5 in 32 starts, with a 2.86 ERA (142 ERA+), 3.07 FIP, and 189 strikeouts in 195.1 innings.

Logan Webb has been named the Giants’ Opening Day starter for the fifth year in a row. He’s a throwback workhorse in this era of five-and-dive starters, with the most starts (132), innings pitched (820), and second-most fWAR (19.1) of any qualified starter over the last four seasons. He’s a sinker-sweeper-changeup guy and one of the preeminent ground ball and command artists in the game, placing well into the 90th percentile in groundball and walk rates across the last five years, though he did strike out over 200 batters for the first time in his career last season. He’s coming off his third-straight top-six NL Cy Young finish having gone 15-11 in 34 starts, with a 3.22 ERA (124 ERA+), 2.60 FIP, and 224 strikeouts in 207 innings.

There are both familiar and new faces in Yankees lineup relative to Opening Day 2025. Trent Grisham was their most used leadoff hitter and reprises that role after rejoining on the qualifying offer. He bats ahead of the Captain, Aaron Judge beginning the quest for his third-straight AL MVP crown. Cody Bellinger was the Yankees’ big-money signing of the winter, re-upping for five years and $162.5 million — he bats third. Ben Rice is perhaps the Yankees’ best development story since Judge, his meteoric rise earning him the right to bat cleanup. Giancarlo Stanton continues his march towards Cooperstown and stands as the X-factor of the offense if he can stay healthy and produce like he did in the second half last year. Jazz Chisholm Jr. bats sixth after becoming just the third player in franchise history with a 30-30 season. José Caballero starts at shortstop with Anthony Volpe still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and looks to lead the AL in stolen bases for the third year in a row. Trade Deadline acquisition Ryan McMahon and fourth-year catcher Austin Wells are among the game’s best defensively at their positions but are looking to rebound from disappointing campaigns at the plate —they bat eighth and ninth.

The Giants have assembled their lineup around a core of nine-figure stars. Willy Adames and Matt Chapman have a legitimate claim as the best all-around left side of an infield in MLB. This might be the one year that Gerrit Cole — on the IL as he finishes his Tommy John rehab — is relieved not to be Opening Day starter given the presence of his personal nemesis Rafael Devers. That trio bats second-through-fourth, ahead of leadoff hitter and offseason signing three-time batting champion Luis Arraez. Jung Hoo Lee plays right and bats fifth while Heliot Ramos breaks a 19-year streak of the Giants naming a different Opening Day left fielder since Barry Bonds. Casey Schmitt gets the surprise nod at firsts ahead of the Giants’ consensus top prospect Bryce Eldridge. Patrick Bailey established himself as the best defensive catcher in baseball and bats eighth, while former Yankees and Giants offseason signing Harrison Bader rounds out the lineup and patrols center.

Advertisement

How to watch

Location: Oracle Park — San Francisco, CA

First pitch: 8:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: Netflix

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280

Online stream: Netflix

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.