Sure, Opening Day is but the start of a 162-game marathon, but where’s the fun in prudence when we’ve been waiting five months for baseball to come back? It’s time to start some narratives, baby — and luckily for us, Thursday provided plenty of fodder, from heavyweights looking the part to young stars bursting onto the scene to some teams who should already be pushing the panic button.

Who should be feeling good and not so good after game one? Here are our winners and losers from Thursday’s action.

Opening Day winner: The Brewers’ faith in Jacob Misiorowski

I get it, really. Misiorowski still hasn’t proven that he can go beyond the fifth inning, and the command issues that plagued him as a rookie popped up again in his first start of 2026 against the Chicago White Sox. And yet … come on, man.

Misiorowski allowed just one run on two hits while striking out 11 in the Brewers’ Opening Day romp, and somehow that might even undersell his dominance. He generated a whiff rate of over 50 percent, 25 swings and misses in all; after Chase Meidroth’s leadoff homer, the White Sox looked like a college team.

Whether the Brewers have raised their ceiling enough to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers and other big-market NL heavyweights remains to be seen. But shipping Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets rather than lose him in free agency was more than just an acknowledgement of financial reality; it was also a bet on Misiorowski, a show of faith that he could be the frontline starter in Peralta’s stead. So far, so good.

Opening Day loser: Ben Cherington

Oneil Cruz will come out of Opening Day as the butt of everyone’s jokes, and for good reason: He almost singlehandedly short-circuited Paul Skenes’ start against the Mets, turning two eminently catchable fly balls into extra-base hits as part of a five-run first inning that dug Pittsburgh a hole it couldn’t climb out of. It was an ugly performance, one that should call into question Cruz’s role in this team’s future.

And yet, it was also a predictable one. Cruz has been prone to baffling glitches in the field for his entire career, and yet the Pirates still thought it appropriate to ask him to switch from shortstop (his natural position) to center. The results have been … pretty much what you’d expect, and fears about Pittsburgh’s defense this season (not just Cruz but Brandon Lowe at second and Ryan O’Hearn in right) were confirmed in swift and humiliating fashion.

All of which begs the question: This is what it looks like when Cherington finally tries to build a competitive roster? Skenes still doesn’t have nearly enough help, and it seems like that won’t be changing any time soon.

Opening Day winner: The teams that rode with rookies

The Pirates opted against putting its top prospect, Konnor Griffin, on the Opening Day roster. And while that was a perfectly justifiable decision in a vacuum, it was hard not to keep Griffin in mind as several other rookies got their MLB careers off to scintillating starts on Thursday.

Seemingly every major debut went like gangbusters. Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle banged out four hits in all, including a two-RBI double in the first inning to help the Tigers romp over the Padres. Mets outfielder Carson Benge hit his first career homer, in addition to two walks and a stolen base. Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt also went deep, earning a curtain call at Busch Stadium, while Phillies outfielder Justin Crawford notched two hits as well.

Oh, and while he’s not nearly as young, White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami also went deep in his first MLB game. It’s safe to say the future is in good hands.

Opening Day loser: Dana Brown

All winter long, fans and media members alike kept waiting for Brown and the Houston Astros to make a trade — something that would help clear their logjam of righty-hitting infielders and help balance out the lineup and the roster overall. But that trade never came; instead, Houston basically stood pat, adding Tatsuya Imai to the rotation but not touching their aging offense at all.

Flash forward to Thursday, when Houston was blanked by Jose Soriano and the Angels bullpen, starting the 2026 season the same way they ended 2025 — getting dominated by a right-handed pitcher. Sure, Jeremy Pena was out as he nurses a fractured finger, but otherwise this lineup was at full strength. But why would anyone have expected a different result? We’e known what’s wrong with this Astros team all offseason long, and Brown simply declined to address it. That could be what costs him his job in a few months time.

Opening Day winner: The Tigers’ plan

We touched on the Tigers earlier, but it’s worth circling back, because few teams looked more impressive in their opening game. Against a Padres team that has its fair share of talent, Detroit rolled from the jump, spotting Tarik Skubal a 4-0 lead after the top of the first and cruising from there to an 8-2 win. Skubal threw six shutout innings, while every Tigers hitter save for Kerry Carpenter managed to reach base at least once.

It was a bumpy offseason for Scott Harris and Co.; their own fans kept waiting for an offensive addition that never came, while everyone else kept trying to force him into trading Skubal to the Dodgers. Amid all that noise, it was almost easy to forget that … hey, this team might be really good? The rotation is elite at the top with Skubal and Framber Valdez, and this offense could surprise people if McGonigle is ready right away and guys like Spencer Torkelson and Colt Keith take a step forward.

The Tigers aren’t perfect, and they probably should’ve done more. But this team could win a whole lot of games, and Thursday was a statement of purpose to all those who wrote Detroit off this winter.

Opening Day loser: Home plate umpires

Thursday marked the first full slate of games under the new ABS challenge system, and well, let’s just say that umpiring crews everywhere probably aren’t a huge fan of the new technology. In nine afternoon games, players were an impressive (or embarrassing, depending on your perspective) 16 for 26 in challenges — a 62-percent success rate. The first successful overturn came courtesy of the Mets, who turned ball four to Cruz into a called strike three.

Look, I don’t want to be too harsh here; calling balls and strikes is really, really hard, and home-plate umps have generally gotten a lot better in recent years (if you don’t believe me, go back and watch highlights of a game from the early 2000s on YouTube). Still, it’s clear that teams plan on using the new ABS system aggressively, and that probably won’t help them earn the benefit of the doubt with an already skeptical viewing public.

Opening Day winner: The city of New York

It was a winter of discontent for both the Yankees and Mets. The former didn’t do much of anything, prompting fans to wonder why exactly Brian Cashman was running back a team that got bounced in the ALDS, while the latter did too much according to fans who hated seeing Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo walk out the door.

So far, though, so good. The Bronx Bombers got nothing from Aaron Judge and still cruised past Logan Webb and the Giants in an impressive 7-0 win on Wednesday night, while the Mets’ relentless offense (and, sure, some awful Pirates defense) turned an early 2-0 hole into an 11-7 victory. These are two star-studded lineups, and they sure looked the part in game one. If the pitching cooperates (and stays healthy), it’s going to be a fun summer in the Big Apple.