The 2025 MLB regular season is still two months away but the Minnesota Twins already have a starter for their Opening Day assignment.

One-time All-Star Pablo Lopez has been given the starting duties for Minnesota’s first game of the 2025 campaign by manager Rocco Baldelli, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune.

“Rocco Baldelli, with a nod to @MillerStrib on the Inside Twins show, says Pablo López will be the team’s 2025 Opening Day starter,” Nightengale shared via a post on X on Monday.

Lopez is coming off a down year for the Twins, but he clearly still has the trust of Baldelli. In the 2023 season, Lopez went 15-10 with a 4.08 ERA. He also posted a 3.65 FIP, suggesting that the Twins’ fielding troubles could have contributed to his mediocre ERA. In addition, Lopez had a 1.192 WHIP across 32 starts while posting a 102 ERA+.

The Twins will begin their 2025 season with a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium that starts on Mar. 27.

Pablo Lopez is once again the Twins’ Opening Day starter

Despite his struggles, Lopez led the Twins pitching staff in 2023 in fWAR (3.2) — just slightly better than Joe Ryan’s 3.1 and Bailey Ober’s 2.9. In any case, Lopez will be gearing up for his third Opening Day start in a row.

For what it’s worth, Lopez looked fantastic on the mound in his Opening Day start in 2024 against the Kansas City Royals on the road, pitching seven full innings and allowing just an earned run on four hits with seven strikeouts and zero walks to help the Twins kick off that campaign with a 4-1 record.

There have been trade rumors involving Lopez’s name in the offseason, but his designation by Baldelli as the 2025 Opening Day starter should douse some cold water on such talks.

Lopez, who will turn 29 years old in March, has three more years left on his current contract — one that will pay him $21.75 million in 2025, 2026 and 2027.

He arrived in the Twin Cities in January of 2023 when he was traded to Minnesota by the Miami Marlins along with Jose Salas and Byron Chourio for Luis Arraez. In April of 2023, Lopez inked a four-year extension contract with the Twins worth $73.5 million.

Lopez and the Twins missed hte MLB postseason in 2024 after finishing just fourth in the American League Central division with only 82 wins against 80 losses.

Their pitching was not among their true strengths in 2024 based on their starters ERA of 4.36, which was just 22nd in the big leagues, but the same group was also 10th in the majors with a 3.98 FIP and ninth with a 12.6 fWAR…