It’s the middle of February and the Super Bowl is officially over which means that baseball is on deck. All 32 MLB teams are ready to get back in the swing of things down in either Florida in the Grapefruit League or Arizona in the Cactus League. The thrill of spring training baseball occurs down in smaller, more intimate setting-type ballparks with sunny skies. It is an atmosphere where the professionals and even prospects square up for around six weeks in order to prepare for the start of the MLB season. Rookies compete for roster spots and the season veterans prepare for yet another season in the books. All of this action will bring everyone closer and closer to MLB’s Opening Day at the end of March.
For the Cactus League, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs will face off in the first spring training game on Feb. 20. The Grapefruit League season will open the next day as the New York Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays on Feb. 21. To follow, the rest of the 30 MLB teams will play on Feb. 22.
Spring training is the first opportunity where newly signed players are seen in their new threads for the first time. This season, the most anticipated player rocking new colors will be Juan Soto, who signed the largest contract in MLB history with the New York Mets. The Mets also just brought back their homegrown slugger, Pete Alonso on a two-year contract. The Dodgers were another team who stayed busy this offseason, signing Blake Snell and Japanese pitcher Roki Sasakito their already stacked rotation. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox recently signed star third baseman Alex Bregman who was on the market until just this week.
The Yankees were another team who will have multiple new faces on their squad. They gained outfielder Cody Bellinger, pitcher Max Fried, pitcher Devin Williams and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The Texas Rangers added Joc Pederson, Jake Burger and re-signed Nathan Eovaldi; they also hope to have a healthy Jacob Degrom sometime this season, which will bolster their pitching as a whole. Veteran pitcher Max Scherzer signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and Justin Verlander signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco Giants. From new rookies to older veterans, there are so many players who have changed threads this offseason, and we will now see firsthand how they adjust to their new teams.
This year’s Opening Day will be on Thursday, March 27. On that day, 28 clubs will play in 14 games, including interleague series and four division matchups. One change of scenery for this year will be the Rays playing the 2025 season at the Yankees’ spring training field in Tampa after their home stadium of Tropicana Field was damaged during Hurricane Milton back in October.
Spring training is a time where little clues of the season to come are hinted at, which will make more sense once the season is fully underway. Clubs will decide their final rosters during this spring training timespan, and fans will get to experience some baseball under the sun for the first time since the 2024 World Series concluded. Spring training marks the start of the 2025 baseball season, and many fans are counting down the days until MLB’s Opening Day.