Five things to watch in MLB this week

Opening day is nearly here, with training camps wrapping up in Arizona and Florida. Here are five things to watch this week as the 2026 MLB season gets underway.

Yankees-Giants start season

The season will start with a standalone Wednesday night game as reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees visit the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

The Yankees lost a tiebreaker to the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East title last season, then lost to the Blue Jays in the Division Series. The Giants missed the postseason for a fourth straight season, fired Bob Melvin and, unconventionally, replaced him with University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello, who has no professional baseball experience.

Yankees lefty Max Fried (19-5, 2.86 ERA in 2025) faces Logan Webb (15-11, 3.22) for the Giants.

Dodgers begin three-peat quest

The Los Angeles Dodgers open the season as the defending World Series champions for the second straight year on Thursday night when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers are trying to become just the fifth team to win at least three World Series in a row. The others: the 1936-39 Yankees, the 1949-53 Yankees, the 1972-74 Oakland Athletics and the 1998-2000 Yankees.

The Dodgers will start World Series hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8, 2.49). Zac Gallen (13-15, 4.83) will get the ball for the Diamondbacks.

Challenge system debuts

Video replay takes on another dimension on Wednesday night when the Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS) is used for the first time in an MLB regular-season game.

Umpires will call each pitch, but teams get two challenges per game. If successful, they keep them and receive one more in each extra inning.

New national TV landscape

Also on Wednesday night, Netflix will stream an MLB game for the first time. It has exclusive rights to Yankees-Giants and will also carry the Home Run Derby in July at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.

Sunday Night Baseball shifts to NBC/Peacock after a 35-year run on ESPN. The first game features two postseason teams from last year, when the Seattle Mariners host the Cleveland Guardians at T-Mobile Park. NBC/Peacock also replaces Roku as the carrier for Sunday Leadoff.

NBC/Peacock will air two Thursday games: the Pittsburgh Pirates and the 2025 National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes at the New York Mets in the afternoon, and the Diamondbacks at the Dodgers at night.

Prospect to watch

Spring training always highlights phenoms, and Atlanta Braves right-hander Didier Fuentes stood out the most.

Nicknamed "The Silent Assassin," the 20-year-old allowed only one baserunner—a hit batter—in nine scoreless Grapefruit League innings, striking out 17. The Braves open Friday night, hosting the Kansas City Royals at Truist Park.