The second phase of the Cubs’ season is set to begin, following the Tokyo Series earlier this month against the Dodgers. With Opening Day’s arrival for all of baseball, the North Siders had to reshuffle aspects of their roster on Thursday.

A 14-game slate opened MLB's 2025 season, and The Athletic's MLB staff was there throughout it all, providing live updates, anecdotes and more.

Iowa's roster features 10 players on Chicago's 40-man roster. They include Neely, Caissie, Alancatara, Cowles and pitchers Gavin Hollowell, Caleb Kilian, Luke Luke Little, Daniel Palencia, Ethan Roberts and Jordan Wicks.

Our Golden Play of the Week is a salute to the Iowa Cubs and opening day at Principal Park. It’s scoreless in the second inning when Ben Cowles hits a two-run homerun to deep center. It’s the first of the season for the I-Cubs.

Lefty MacKenzie Gore struck out 13 batters for the Washington Nationals, which on its own stands as a franchise record for the team on Opening Day. That feat also tied him with Hall of Famer Bob Gibson in another area, though: they're now the only two pitchers to ever rack up 13 strikeouts and no walks in a scoreless Opening Day outing.

A weird plot twist (that we probably mentioned last year, but it bears repeating): Before O’Neill came along, the old record of four was held by three players, and they were all catchers: Yogi Berra (Yankees, 1955-58), Gary Carter (Expos, 1977-80) and Todd Hundley (Mets, 1994-97).

It seems like the Pittsburgh Pirates can never catch a break. Along with blowing a two-run lead against the Miami Marlins on MLB Opening Day and wasting an impressive Paul Skenes start, the Buccos announced they will be down an infielder for the foreseeable future.

The New York Yankees showed they can still win with a little scruff on their chins while Baltimore’s Tyler O’Neill might be the best player on Earth during the first game of the season.