Winners, losers from Opening Day: Paul Skenes has nightmare start, Jacob Misiorowski dominates

Although there were only 11 games on Thursday, and six teams have yet to play, Opening Day is in the books. Let's take a look at some of the biggest winners and losers from Thursday's slate of action.

Winner: David Stearns' vision for the New York Mets lineup

The Mets overhauled their lineup during the offseason, placing greater emphasis on defense and on getting on base. As the Mets faced defending NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, Stearns' vision was going to be tested early.

So far, so good. While the Mets had some help from the Pirates defense, they were able to chase Skenes with two out in the first inning en route to an 11-7 victory. The Mets had 11 hits and nine walks as the lineup, at least for one day, worked as expected.

Loser: Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz

Although Skenes struggled with his command on Thursday, Cruz may have been the biggest reason for his early exit. He misread the ball off Brett Baty's bat in the first, starting in before sprinting back as the ball went over his head for a three run triple. Cruz then lost a popup to shallow center in the sun in the next at-bat, leading to the Mets fifth run of the first inning.

Cruz did not have a great day at the plate either. He had a leadoff single in his first plate appearance, but had a walk overturned on an ABS challenge, which resulted in a strikeout. He swung and missed on a pitch badly enough to throw the bat. Cruz ended the day going 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.

Winner: New Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski

With pitcher Freddy Peralta having been sent to the Mets, Misiorowski needed to step up as the Brewers new ace. His first Opening Day start got off to a rough start as White Sox infielder Chase Meidroth led off the game with a home run.

That was about all the White Sox would get off Misiorowski. He recorded three strikeouts in first as he set a Brewers Opening Day record with 11 strikeouts in just five innings, surpassing Ben Sheets (2002) and Peralta (2025) with eight. As Misiorowski may be the Brewers' biggest X factor this season, his first outing went about as well as Milwaukee could have hoped for.

Loser: San Diego Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta

Pivetta had a career year in 2025, posting a 2.87 ERA and a 0.985 WHIP in his 181.2 innings. His 2.87 ERA was 1.17 runs better than his previous career best — a 4.04 ERA in 2023. It was fair to wonder if Pivetta could build off of that season or if regression would hit hard.

If his first outing is any indication, the latter may be the case. Pivetta allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks over his three innings on Thursday, striking out four batters. As the Padres rotation depth is paper-thin while Joe Musgrove remains on the injured list, this was not the type of start to the season San Diego was hoping for.

Winner: Rookies show they belong on Opening Day

Opening Day is a special day for any player, but it is even more so for players making their major league debuts. Five of those players — infielders Kevin McGonigle, JJ Wetherholt and Munetaka Murakami and outfielders Carson Benge and Justin Crawford — combined to go 9-for-18 with three homers and two doubles.

Those starts were historic for McGonigle and Benge. McGonigle became the 21st player since 1900, and the second player in Tigers history, joining Billy Bean, to have at least four hits in his major league debut. Benge, meanwhile, became the 14th player in MLB history, and second Met, to hit a homer and steal a base in his debut since the stolen base rule was updated in 1898.

Additionally, Guardians outfielder Chase DeLauter homered in his first regular-season plate appearance, then had a second homer in the ninth.

Loser: St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays bullpens

The Rays and Cardinals headed into the sixth inning tied 1-1. Then the bullpens got involved. Six pitchers and six outs later, the Cardinals held a 9-7 lead.

The Cardinals bullpen imploded first, with Matt Svanson, Justin Bruihl and Chris Roycroft combining to allow six runs on seven hits and a walk, with each reliever recording only one out. The Rays bullpen proved to be unable to hold the 7-1 lead, as Ian Seymour, Garrett Clevinger and Griffin Jax combined to allow eight runs on eight hits, including a home run. Seymour faced five hitters, all of whom recorded a hit, without getting any outs.