List Of Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day Starting Pitchers
The Dodgers started playing in Los Angeles in 1958, after moving from Brooklyn. The first Opening Day game for the Dodgers in Los Angeles was played in San Francisco against the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 1958. California native Don Drysdale was the Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitcher that day, in a game the Dodgers lost 8–0. Dodgers starting pitchers won both of their Opening Day starts in their first home ballpark in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Clayton Kershaw's nine Opening Day starts for the Dodgers from 2011 to 2018 and 2021 are the most ever by a Dodgers starter, two more than Don Drysdale and Don Sutton. Fernando Valenzuela, Ramón Martínez and Orel Hershiser have had at least four Opening Day starts, with six, five and four respectively. Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who won three Cy Young Awards during the 1960s, only made one Opening Day start for the Dodgers, in 1964. Drysdale and Kershaw are also tied for the Los Angeles Dodgers record for most wins as an Opening Day starter, with five wins. They both also have two losses.
Koufax (1964), Chan Ho Park (2001), Brad Penny (2008), Hiroki Kuroda (2009) and Julio Urías (2023) are the only Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers to have won all their Opening Day decisions, Martinez and Derek Lowe share the Los Angeles Dodgers record for most Opening Day losses, with three. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series championship in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988 and 2020. Drysdale (1959, 1963 and 1965), Fernando Valenzuela (1981 and 1988) and Dustin May (2020) were the Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitchers those years. The Dodgers' starting pitcher won the Opening Day game in 1963, 1965 and 1981, but lost in 1959 and 1988. In 2020 the starter did not factor in the decision.
Key
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Dodger-Stadium-Panorama-052707.jpg/350px-Dodger-Stadium-Panorama-052707.jpg)
Season | Each year is linked to an article about that particular Dodgers season. |
Pitcher (#) | Number of appearances as Opening Day starter with the Dodgers |
W | Win |
L | Loss |
ND (W) | No decision by starting pitcher; Dodgers won game |
ND (L) | No decision by starting pitcher; Dodgers lost game |
Final score | Game score with Dodgers runs listed first |
Location | Stadium in italics for home game |
* | Advanced to the post-season |
** | NL Champions |
† | World Series Champions |
Pitchers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Kuroda_on_the_mound.jpg/220px-Kuroda_on_the_mound.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/BradPenny.jpg/220px-BradPenny.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/90/Orelhershiser.jpg/220px-Orelhershiser.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/DSC03270_Chan_Ho_Park.jpg/220px-DSC03270_Chan_Ho_Park.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/HideoNomo.png/220px-HideoNomo.png)