Sanchez was announced as the Phillies' Opening Day starter for Thursday's game versus the Rangers, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The left-hander certainly earned it after he posted a 2.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 212:44 K:BB across 202 innings during the regular season last year, though Zack Wheeler (shoulder) likely would have still earned the nod if healthy. Sanchez has established himself as a frontline starter the past two seasons, with his 212 strikeouts last year ranking seventh in MLB.

Sale has officially been named Atlanta's Opening Day starter, Gabe Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Sale will make his seventh career Opening Day start and his second straight in Atlanta. The soon-to-be 37-year-old will face the Royals. Sale has had back-to-back stellar seasons, posting a 2.38 ERA in 2024 and a 2.58 ERA in 2025.

The Nationals assigned Rutledge to Triple-A Rochester on Friday.

Rutledge will fall short of making the big-league roster after yielding three runs (two earned) across 6.1 innings spanning seven appearances this spring. The 26-year-old threw 73.1 innings out of the bullpen for Washington last season, posting a 5.77 ERA and 1.51 WHIP.

Johnson was informed Friday that he has made the Angels' Opening Day roster, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Johnson has been making a strong case to not only make the big-league roster but also be part of the Halos' rotation. While he'll be part of the roster, his exact role remains uncertain. He and Jack Kochanowicz, who will also make the Opening Day roster, had seemingly been competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, and that path could be clear with Alek Manoah struggling this spring and Grayson Rodriguez (elbow) battling injury.

The Guardians named Bibee as their starter for Opening Day against the Mariners on Thursday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

It'll be the first Opening Day start for Bibee, who was scheduled to do so last season before being a late scratch due to an illness. The right-hander is coming off an up-and-down 2024 campaign during which he posted a 4.24 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 162:54 K:BB across 182.1 regular-season innings. Now entering his age-27 campaign, Bibee will look to regain the form that resulted in a 3.25 ERA and 1.14 WHIP across his first two MLB seasons in 2023 and 2024.

Kochanowicz was informed Friday that he made the Angels' Opening Day roster in an unspecified role, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Kochanowicz has been competing for a spot in the Halos' rotation, and while it's not a guarantee he'll be a starter, he's officially made the team. Still, there's a strong chance Kochanowicz is part of the rotation, given Alek Manoah's struggles this spring and an elbow issue for Grayson Rodriguez. Kochanowicz posted a 6.81 ERA across 111.0 innings for the Angels last season.

Rodriguez (arm) played light catch Friday and said he doesn't consider his injury serious, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Rodriguez is taking a cautious approach in his recovery from a dead arm, but that's due to his injury history rather than the severity of the current issue, as the right-hander called the injury "not serious." Still, it's unclear if Rodriguez will have to open the regular season on the injured list.

Irvin appears to be on track to begin the season as part of the Nationals' rotation, Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic reports.

Josiah Gray and Mitchell Parker were optioned to Triple-A Rochester this week while Brad Lord is being shifted to the bullpen, which seemingly leaves Irvin as the last man standing for the fifth starter role. Irvin's reliability may have won the day, as he's made 33 starts in each of the last two seasons despite a 5.04 ERA, and the 29-year-old right-hander has had a strong spring with a 1.35 ERA and 15:4 K:BB over 13.1 innings.

Ryan will start the Twins' Opening Day game against Baltimore, the team announced Friday.

With Pablo Lopez (elbow) sidelined, it's not a surprise to see Ryan get the Opening Day nod. It'll be his second Opening Day start, with his first coming in 2022. Ryan set career bests in ERA (3.42) and innings pitched (171) in 2025.

Senga gave up three hits and a walk over four scoreless innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros. He struck out four.

Facing most of Houston's likely Opening Day lineup, including Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Carlos Correa, Senga fired 41 of 63 pitches for strikes in another impressive performance. The 33-year-old right-hander has posted a 1.86 ERA and 11:1 K:BB through 9.2 spring frames while showing much better velocity on his four-seam fastball, which averaged 94.7 mph in 2024. With more consistent heat to set up his elite splitter, Senga may be poised to regain something close to the form that saw him deliver a 2.98 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 202:77 K:BB over 166.1 innings during his MLB debut in 2023.