“Very ready,” McLain said. “Obviously not playing last year was not fun, so I’m just looking forward to it.”
The Reds play the San Francisco Giants at 4:10 p.m. Thursday at Great American Ball Park. It will be the 149th Opening Day at home for the Reds, the 23rd home opener at Great American Ball Park and the 21st game to open a season at the 22-year-old stadium.
This will be the first Opening Day as Reds manager for Terry Francona. He was hired in October to replace David Bell, who was fired with a week left in the regular season.
“Opening day is always kind of the same,” Francona said Tuesday. “A lot of excitement, some anxiety, maybe even a little terror. As exciting as Opening Day is, what really excites me is once you get into the grind of it, then you can see how good you are. After the first game, we have a day off. (Opening Day) is like the biggest overreaction day of the year. If we win, we’re going to go on and win the World Series. If we lose, we’re going to stink. Getting through that and getting into games is what I really enjoy.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are five things fans should know about the game and the season:
1. Managing debuts: Six of the seven managers the Reds have had on Opening Day in the Great American Ball Park era lost their first games: Bob Boone (2003); Dave Miley (2004); Jerry Narron (2006); Dusty Baker (2008); and Bryan Price (2014). Bell won on his first Opening Day in 2019.
Francona first experienced Opening Day in 1987 in his first and only season as the Reds with a player.
“I was stunned,” he said. “Back then, it was always the first game (of the Major League Baseball season). Now it’s a home game, but it’s not necessarily the first game. They had a parade. School was out. I went to dinner that night, and somebody had my jersey on — the waitress. I was like, ‘Man, I have arrived.’ I had never seen something like that. I mean it’s a good baseball town.”
2. Starting pitcher: Hunter Greene will make his second Opening Day start for the Reds in three seasons. Francona named him the starter on March 7.
“I actually could have given it to a few guys,” Francona said, “but with his year last year and the way he came to spring training, we thought it was a good call.”
3. First opponent: The Reds will play the Giants on Opening Day for the fourth time and for the first time since 1999. The Reds are 0-3 against the Giants in the opener.
The Giants finished 80-82 last season and have not finished above .500 since a 107-win season in 2021. This is the second season for Bob Melvin. Logan Webb, who was 13-10 with a 3.47 ERA last season, will start for the Giants.
4. Preseason optimism: The Reds begin the 2025 season with the longest postseason drought in the four major professional sports leagues. They have not advanced in the playoffs since 1995. Nineteen different franchises have won the World Series since the Reds’ last championship in 1990.
The Reds have not won the National League Central Division since 2012. They have not finished better than third in the last 11 seasons. Their 77-85 finish last season was their eighth losing season in that span.
The Reds have 60-1 odds to win the World Series, 30-1 odds to win the National League championship and 11-2 odds to win the Central, according to ESPN BET.
“That’s our expectation,” McLain said. “We came here to win, and we want to win. Obviously, that was made clear. We hired Tito (Francona). We made offseason moves. We know where we are as a team. We know where we want to go, and we really have a chance to do that.”
5. Star power: This will be the second Opening Day for third-year shortstop Elly De La Cruz. He ranked 31st on a MLB.com list of the top 100 players in 2025. That’s 69 spots higher than he ranked a year ago.
De La Cruz, 23, hit .259 with 25 home runs and 76 RBIs in 2024. He led Major League Baseball with 67 stolen bases.
“He’s a great player,” Francona said, “and the good part of it is he’s getting better. There may not be a ceiling with this kid. He does everything. As young players mature in this game, they become more consistent. At least the good ones do. And I think that’s what you’re going to start seeing with Elly. That’s just a natural progression. He’s doing a lot of learning at a really young age, with not a ton of reps in the minor leagues.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
Giants at Reds, 4:10 p.m., FanDuel Sports Ohio, 700, 1410
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
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