Chase Headley isn’t sure where the time has gone, though he’s certainly covered a lot of ground in his career both on and off the field. While plenty of questions surround his future, Headley’s main focus is on being at his best.

After missing the final Spring Training games, Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez was in the Opening Day lineup’s No. 4 slot against the Cubs and Jeff Samardzija on Monday.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter officially named Tommy Hunter the club’s closer, speaking to the right-hander during Sunday’s workout.

The Rays aren’t big spenders but they appear prepared to make a big splash, coming out of Spring Training having had the best record (16-7-4) and ERA (3.11) among American League teams.

Daniel Murphy left the team on Sunday to be with his wife, Tori, who went into labor with the couple’s first child, and is expected back on Wednesday. The Mets also played without Chris Young, who suffered a mild right quad strain over the weekend in Montreal.

The Mets honored late broadcaster Ralph Kiner with a pregame ceremony on Monday, unveiling a permanent Kiner microphone logo on the left-field wall and a temporary one on the grass behind home plate.

Since their last playoff appearance in 2009, the Rockies have slid backward. Fortunately for Colorado, help is on the way, and fast. The Rockies have the game’s top tandem of pitching prospects in right-handers Jon Gray and Eddie Butler.

On Sunday night in the Padres’ 2014 opener at Petco Park, the home team erased a late 1-0 deficit with a three-run eighth inning and went on to defeat the Dodgers, 3-1. San Diego began its comeback on pinch-hit home run by Seth Smith.

The National League Central race will get started in earnest right out of the gate, with an Opening Day matchup between the Cardinals and Reds that will serve as an early litmus test for these two expected contenders. The 4:10 p.m. ET tilt today at Great American Ball Park — where Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto will greet St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright — is set to be the first of six meetings in the season’s first month between these two clubs

The Rays and Blue Jays will begin the 2014 season today at Tropicana Field with wildly different expectations placed upon them, due in part to their wildly different offseasons.

The Dodgers’ Zack Greinke and Padres’ Ian Kennedy will be on the hill when the series resumes Tuesday in San Diego. Greinke is coming off a right calf strain, while Kennedy is entering his first full season with the Padres.

With the stateside dawn of the 2014 regular season upon us, MLB.com columnists and studio analysts took a moment to share their predictions for the coming year.

Chris Denorfia’s go-ahead two-run single highlighted a three-run eighth inning Sunday as the Padres rallied for a 3-1 victory over the Dodgers before a sold-out crowd of 45,567 at Petco Park on Opening Night. Seth Smith began the frame with a pinch-hit homer in his first at-bat for San Diego.

Today is Opening Day throughout America, and that tells us, finally and officially, the three words we’ve been waiting to hear since Red Sox closer Koji Uehara struck out Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter to win the 2013 World Series on Oct. 30: Baseball is back.

It has been a whirlwind two months of adjustment for Masahiro Tanaka, jetting to the United States after signing a seven-year, $155 million contract, then compiling a 2.14 ERA in five Spring Training appearances for his new team. What pleases the Yankees most is how effortless the transition appears to have been.

From tickets and gear to MLB.TV and At Bat, we have all the bases covered with 20 examples of ways you might want to spend much of your time this season.

In a very difficult decision for Angels manager Mike Scioscia, outfielder J.B. shuck was sent to Triple-A in the final roster cuts on Saturday night, with Collin Cowgill making the team as a reserve outfielder.