The Texas Rangers aren’t wasting any time in seeing what they have in Jacob deGrom.

The ace right-hander, who signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers in the offseason, will face Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola when the 2023 Major League Baseball season opens next Thursday.

All 30 clubs will be in action that day for the first time since 1968.

This will be deGrom’s fourth career Opening Day start. The two-time Cy Young winner got the nod from 2019-21 while pitching for the New York Mets. Texas has been cautious with deGrom during spring training after the 34-year-old reported tightness in his left side right before team workouts began in February.

His work over the last month has been solid enough that the Rangers did not hesitate in making deGrom the seventh different pitcher to get the ball on Opening Day for the team in the last seven years.

Nola, by contrast, has been a fixture for the Phillies. The 29-year-old will make his sixth Opening Day start for Philadelphia. Only Hall of Famers Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) have started more season-openers in Phillies’ history.

Eight Cy Young winners in all will take the mound on March 30, including Corey Kluber, who will make his first start for Boston when the Red Sox face Baltimore. Kluber is the first newcomer to start Boston’s first game since David Price in 2016.

Miami’s Sandy Alcantara will the first Marlins pitcher to start four straight openers when he takes on three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer and the New York Mets. Alcantara, a unanimous choice for the NL Cy Young in 2022, will break a tie with Josh Beckett (2003-05) and Josh Johnson (2010-12) for most Opening-Day starts in club history. Scherzer is one of five pitchers since 1900 to record 10 or more strikeouts on Opening Day at least three times in their career.

This is the second time in as many years that Cy Young winners will face each other on Opening Day. Cleveland’s Shane Bieber and Kansas City’s Zack Greinke met last spring.

Angels star Shohei Ohtani, fresh off leading Japan to the World Baseball Classic title, will make his second straight Opening Day start for Los Angeles. Ohtani set career-highs last year in wins (15), ERA (2.33), strikeouts (216) and innings pitched (166). Ohtani and the Angels begin the season against Oakland left-hander Kyle Muller, who will be making his first Opening-Day start.

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will join C.C. Sabathia, Jack Chesbro and Mel Stottlemyre as the only pitchers in team history to start four straight Opening Days when the Yankees host the San Francisco Giants.

Framber Valdez will start for World Series champion Houston when the Astros host the Chicago White Sox.

The youngest Opening-Day starter will be Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene. The hard-throwing 23-year-old will match up with Mitch Keller and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Greene struck out 164 hitters in 125 2/3 innings as a rookie last season. Greene also pitched 7 1/3 no-hit innings against the Pirates last April, only to take the loss.

Washington’s Patrick Corbin is hopeful that getting the start on Opening Day will lead to a better season than the ones he endured in 2021 and 2022. Corbin led the majors in losses each of the past two seasons, going 9-16 with a 5.82 ERA in 2021, then 6-19 with a 6.31 ERA last year. But with Stephen Strasburg still sidelined by injury and top prospect Cade Cavalli out for the year following Tommy John surgery, the Nationals are turning to one of the few pieces remaining from the team that won the 2019 World Series.

RULES: Big league pitchers can signal electronically what they plan to throw this year.

Major League Baseball expanded use of the PitchCom device to pitchers in addition to catchers.

“Use of the PitchCom device is optional for clubs and wholly voluntary for players,” MLB said in a memo to teams. “The decision of one club to not use the PitchCom device shall not preclude their opposing club from using the PitchCom device.”

MLB adopted the PitchCom device last season, allowing catchers to push buttons on wristbands to call for fastballs, curves, changeups and anything else, along with the location. The pitcher heard the result on an earpiece inside his hat.

MLB will provide each team at least three transmitters, 12 receivers and two charging cases. Teams may not be have more than three transmitters or 12 receivers at any time.

Up to five receivers may be used on the field by a defensive team at any time. Batters and runners can’t use the device.

PHILLIES: First baseman Rhys Hoskins will get a second opinion on his injured left knee but the team believes Hoskins will miss all of the 2023 season.

General Manager Dave Dombrowski said while Hoskins will be re-evaluated, he would be “shocked” if the 30-year-old Hoskins did not require surgery to repair a torn ACL.

Hoskins injured the knee Thursday while fielding a grounder. The Phillies will turn to Darick Hall to replace Hoskins. Hall, 27, hit .250 with nine home runs and 16 RBI in 41 games as a rookie in 2022.

“I do feel comfortable to say that we do like Darick Hall a lot,” Dombrowski said. “We think he’s ready to step up and be a big-league player.”

CARDINALS: Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 34-year-old veteran right-handed pitcher signed a two-year contract extension with the Cardinals that runs through the 2025 season.

The two-time All-Star was about the enter the final year of his current contract with St. Louis. He is scheduled to make the second Opening-Day start of his career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis General Manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.

Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

ANGELS: It was back to business as usual for Shohei Ohtani.

The two-way star returned to Los Angeles Angels camp after his MVP performance in the World Baseball Classic. Three days after striking out Mike Trout to clinch the WBC title for Japan against the United States in Miami, Ohtani was on the back fields in Tempe, pitching in a minor league game against some Arizona Diamondbacks farmhands.

Friday’s outing was to keep Ohtani on schedule for his opening day start next Thursday in Oakland. He faced 19 batters while working into a fifth inning, walking one and striking out eight. He allowed four hits, including a home run to Gavin Conticello, an eighth-round draft pick for Arizona in 2021.