List of Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers

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The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Los Angeles. They play in the National League West division. The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season, though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day. The Dodgers have used 26 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 67 seasons in Los Angeles. The 26 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 29 wins, 27 losses and 10 no decisions.

Clayton Kershaw holds the Dodgers' record for most Opening Day starts with nine (2011–2018 & 2021).

The Dodgers started playing in Los Angeles in 1958, after moving from Brooklyn. The first Opening Day game for the Dodgers in Los Angeles was played in San Francisco against the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 1958. California native Don Drysdale was the Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitcher that day, in a game the Dodgers lost 8–0. Dodgers starting pitchers won both of their Opening Day starts in their first home ballpark in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Clayton Kershaw's nine Opening Day starts for the Dodgers from 2011 to 2018 and 2021 are the most ever by a Dodgers starter, two more than Don Drysdale and Don Sutton. Fernando Valenzuela, Ramón Martínez and Orel Hershiser have had at least four Opening Day starts, with six, five and four respectively. Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who won three Cy Young Awards during the 1960s, only made one Opening Day start for the Dodgers, in 1964. Drysdale and Kershaw are also tied for the Los Angeles Dodgers record for most wins as an Opening Day starter, with five wins. They both also have two losses.

Koufax (1964), Chan Ho Park (2001), Brad Penny (2008), Hiroki Kuroda (2009) and Julio Urías (2023) are the only Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers to have won all their Opening Day decisions, Martinez and Derek Lowe share the Los Angeles Dodgers record for most Opening Day losses, with three. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series championship in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988 and 2020. Drysdale (1959, 1963 and 1965), Fernando Valenzuela (1981 and 1988) and Dustin May (2020) were the Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitchers those years. The Dodgers' starting pitcher won the Opening Day game in 1963, 1965 and 1981, but lost in 1959 and 1988. In 2020 the starter did not factor in the decision.

Key

 
Dodger Stadium has been the Los Angeles Dodgers' home field since 1962. Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitchers have a record there of nine wins, ten losses and five no decisions.
Season Each year is linked to an article about that particular Dodgers season.
Pitcher (#) Number of appearances as Opening Day starter with the Dodgers
W Win
L Loss
ND (W) No decision by starting pitcher; Dodgers won game
ND (L) No decision by starting pitcher; Dodgers lost game
Final score Game score with Dodgers runs listed first
Location Stadium in italics for home game
* Advanced to the post-season
** NL Champions
World Series Champions

Pitchers

 
Hiroki Kuroda was the Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitcher in 2009.
 
Brad Penny was the Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitcher in 2008.
 
Orel Hershiser made four Opening Day starts for the Dodgers in the 1980s and 1990s.
 
Chan Ho Park was the Dodgers' Opening Day starter in 2001.
 
Hideo Nomo made two Opening Day starts for the Dodgers in 2003 and 2004.
Season Pitcher Decision Final
score
Opponent Location Ref(s)
1958 Don Drysdale L 0–8 San Francisco Giants Seals Stadium
1959 Don Drysdale (2) L 1–6 Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field
1960 Don Drysdale (3) W 3–2 Chicago Cubs Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1961 Don Drysdale (4) W 6–2 Philadelphia Phillies Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1962 Johnny Podres L 3–6 Cincinnati Reds Dodger Stadium
1963 Don Drysdale (5) W 5–1 Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field
1964 Sandy Koufax W 4–0 St. Louis Cardinals Dodger Stadium
1965 Don Drysdale (6) W 6–1 New York Mets Shea Stadium
1966** Claude Osteen W 3–2 Houston Astros Dodger Stadium
1967 Bob Miller L 1–6 Cincinnati Reds Crosley Field
1968 Claude Osteen (2) L 0–2 Philadelphia Phillies Dodger Stadium
1969 Don Drysdale (7) W 3–2 Cincinnati Reds Dodger Stadium
1970 Claude Osteen (3) L 0–4 Cincinnati Reds Dodger Stadium
1971 Bill Singer L 2–5 Houston Astros Astrodome
1972 Don Sutton W 3–1 Cincinnati Reds Riverfront Stadium
1973 Don Sutton (2) L 2–4 San Diego Padres San Diego Stadium
1974** Don Sutton (3) W 1–2 San Diego Padres Dodger Stadium
1975 Don Sutton (4) ND (L) 1–2 Cincinnati Reds Riverfront Stadium
1976 Don Sutton (5) L 2–4 San Francisco Giants Candlestick Park
1977** Don Sutton (6) W 5–1 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
1978** Don Sutton (7) W 13–4 Atlanta Braves Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
1979 Burt Hooton ND (L) 3–4 San Diego Padres Dodger Stadium
1980 Burt Hooton (2) L 2–3 Houston Astros Astrodome
1981 Fernando Valenzuela W 2–0 Houston Astros Dodger Stadium
1982 Jerry Reuss ND (W) 4–3 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
1983* Fernando Valenzuela (2) ND (W) 16–7 Houston Astros Astrodome
1984 Fernando Valenzuela (3) L 7–11 St. Louis Cardinals Dodger Stadium
1985* Fernando Valenzuela (4) L 1–2 Houston Astros Astrodome
1986 Fernando Valenzuela (5) W 2–1 San Diego Padres Dodger Stadium
1987 Orel Hershiser L 3–4 Houston Astros Astrodome
1988 Fernando Valenzuela (6) L 1–5 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
1989 Tim Belcher L 4–6 Cincinnati Reds Riverfront Stadium
1990 Orel Hershiser (2) ND (W) 4–2 San Diego Padres Dodger Stadium
1991 Tim Belcher (2) W 6–4 Atlanta Braves Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
1992 Ramón Martínez L 1–8 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
1993 Orel Hershiser (3) L 3–6 Florida Marlins Joe Robbie Stadium
1994 Orel Hershiser (4) ND (W) 4–3 Florida Marlins Dodger Stadium
1995* Ramón Martínez (2) W 8–7 Florida Marlins Joe Robbie Stadium
1996* Ramón Martínez (3) W 4–3 Houston Astros Astrodome
1997 Ramón Martínez (4) L 0–3 Philadelphia Phillies Dodger Stadium
1998 Ramón Martínez (5) L 0–6 St. Louis Cardinals Busch Memorial Stadium
1999 Kevin Brown ND (W) 8–6 Arizona Diamondbacks Dodger Stadium
2000 Kevin Brown (2) W 10–4 Montreal Expos Olympic Stadium
2001 Chan Ho Park W 1–0 Milwaukee Brewers Dodger Stadium
2002 Kevin Brown (3) L 2–9 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
2003 Hideo Nomo W 8–0 Arizona Diamondbacks Bank One Ballpark
2004* Hideo Nomo (2) L 2–8 San Diego Padres Dodger Stadium
2005 Derek Lowe L 2–4 San Francisco Giants SBC Park
2006* Derek Lowe (2) L 10–11 Atlanta Braves Dodger Stadium
2007 Derek Lowe (3) L 1–7 Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park
2008* Brad Penny W 5–0 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
2009* Hiroki Kuroda W 4–1 San Diego Padres Petco Park
2010 Vicente Padilla L 5–11 Pittsburgh Pirates PNC Park
2011 Clayton Kershaw W 2–1 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
2012 Clayton Kershaw (2) ND (W) 5–3 San Diego Padres Petco Park
2013* Clayton Kershaw (3) W 4–0 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
2014* Clayton Kershaw (4) W 3–1 Arizona Diamondbacks Sydney Cricket Ground
2015* Clayton Kershaw (5) ND (W) 6–3 San Diego Padres Dodger Stadium
2016* Clayton Kershaw (6) W 15–0 San Diego Padres Petco Park
2017** Clayton Kershaw (7) W 14–3 San Diego Padres Dodger Stadium
2018** Clayton Kershaw (8) L 0 –1 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
2019 * Hyun-jin Ryu W 12 –5 Arizona Diamondbacks Dodger Stadium
2020 Dustin May ND (W) 8 –1 San Francisco Giants Dodger Stadium
2021 * Clayton Kershaw (9) L 5 –8 Colorado Rockies Coors Field
2022 * Walker Buehler W 5 –3 Colorado Rockies Coors Field
2023 * Julio Urías W 8 –2 Arizona Diamondbacks Dodger Stadium
2024 Tyler Glasnow ND (W) 5 –2 San Diego Padres Gocheok Sky Dome

References

General

"Dodgers Opening Day Lineups". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-10-02. "Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day Starters and Results". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.

Specific