In just over a week, on March 28, the Reds and Nationals will begin the regular season on Opening Day. As the city with the first professional baseball franchise that started in 1869, Cincinnati does Opening Day like no other.

For the still-young Reds, it's an opportunity to build off their surprising 82-win season in 2023 as Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and others enter their sophomore seasons in the big leagues. Cincinnati is clearly looking to be a contending team in a wide-open National League Central division.

• Opening Day starters: Who's getting the call?

The Nationals’ focus continues to be building toward their future, with many members of their young core in the starting lineup and several top prospects knocking at the big league doors this season. The Nats added a trio of former Reds to the organization this offseason: third baseman Nick Senzel, left fielder Jesse Winker and right-hander Derek Law.

RHP Frankie Montas
Previous Opening Day starts: 2020, 2022 (both with A's)
2023 Season: 1-0, 0.00 ERA (with Yankees)

Although they have a rotation filled with young arms, including last year's Opening Day starter Hunter Greene, Reds manager David Bell turned to the rotation's newest veteran in Montas. Turning 30 on Thursday, Montas signed a one-year, $16 million contract in January as he attempts to complete his comeback from a right shoulder injury.

"A lot of emotions, I’m happy and proud that they trust me with that day. I’m looking forward to it," Montas said. “[Bell] told me it’s a big thing in Cincinnati. That just raises the bar for me, talking about the excitement. It’ll just make me more excited to go out there and put on a show and put on a good performance.”

Because of right shoulder surgery in February 2023, Montas was limited to 1 1/3 innings in one relief outing for the Yankees near the end of last season. He has looked strong in Reds camp this spring, and the club will hope he can return to the form he had in 2021 and early '22.

Montas finished sixth in AL Cy Young Award voting in 2021 with the A’s (13-9, 3.37 ERA), and he had a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts for Oakland in 2022, prior to a midseason trade to the Yankees.

“At the end of the day, it’s just the first game out of 33 or 34 starts," Montas said of the opener. "I try to treat it as a normal day. You try to set the tone and start the year with the win.”

RHP Josiah Gray
Previous Opening Day starts: Zero
2023 Season: 8-13, 3.91 ERA

Gray, 26, got the nod for his first career Opening Day start. The former Reds second-round Draft pick in 2018 will anchor the Nationals' rotation one season after earning his first All-Star selection.

“‘Progress’ is probably the first word that comes to mind because of how I've progressed through the league in the short amount of time I've been a Major Leaguer,” Gray said. “I just remember my first big league camp being with the Dodgers and getting cut and thinking how that feeling was, and to say you’re going to be our first arm out of Spring Training going into the season is really cool and really surreal.”

Gray’s selection is another step in the Nationals’ path toward building their future with a core of young, developing players. He is their first Opening Day starter not named Patrick Corbin (2022-23), Max Scherzer (2015-16, ‘18-21) or Stephen Strasburg (2012-14, ‘17) since Liván Hernández in 2011.

“He gets an opportunity to do it for the first time to open up a season, which to me, for a young kid, it’s a big deal,” said manager Dave Martinez. “Hopefully he goes out there -- I know he’s welcomed it and he’s excited about it -- and he goes out there and competes, and we’re trying to go 1-0 that day.”