All about Dodgers’ opening day 2026 — and why the team won’t get World Series rings that day

The 2026 season for the Dodgers begins Thursday, March 26, under the bright national glare of NBC and Peacock, when the Diamondbacks stroll into Chavez Ravine for a 5:30 p.m. PST first pitch at Dodger Stadium. 

The game, which will be the first time fans can celebrate their back-to-back World Series champions during the new season, is sure to be prime-time theater. 

But if you’re showing up expecting a ring ceremony, pump the brakes.

The celebration of the 2025 World Series title comes the following night, March 27, also against Arizona. That’s when the hardware gets handed out, when fingers sparkle and the crowd roars at the sight of legacy made tangible. Thursday is all about the new season and the quest for a three-peat. Friday is about rings. 

The new faces matter, too. Closer Edwin Diaz and slugger Kyle Tucker make their official Dodger Stadium debuts. Both signed as free agents with the Dodgers in the offseason. 

At second base, with Tommy Edman sidelined, it could be Miguel Rojas — October’s steady hand — or Alex Freeland stepping into the spotlight.

The Opening Day rotation has a little bit of drama already. Left-handed pitcher Blake Snell isn’t expected to be ready, which has forced Los Angeles to turn to some unepxected arms.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the reigning World Series MVP, will take the ball as the Opening Day starter. He will be followed in the rotation by Emmet Sheehan, spring training star Tyler Glasnow, the embattled Roki Sasaki and Shohei Ohtani (another darkhorse candidate for Cy Young).

Ohtani did not pitch for Samurai Japan and the World Baseball Classic, but he was by far the most feared hitter with an incredible stat line: 6-for-13 (.462), 3 homeruns, a double, 7 RBI’s and five walks.

Fans are encouraged to get there early for Opening Day and soak in the anthem with the flyover. That’s one of the best parts of any Opening Day, when you feel the hum of 56,000 fans packed shoulder-to-shoulder beneath the palm trees and pastel sky. 

Opening Day is expected to sell out, but some tickets are still available and can be purchased here. 

That’s when fans will hear those immortal words ushered by the great Vin Scully for the first time in 2026. 

It’s time for Dodger baseball.

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