9 MLB storylines to follow for 2024 season as opening day arrives

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Some of you reading this have called out of work to head to the ballpark for the first time in months, and while baseball's popularity has, for the most part, been at a standstill for a while, nothing tops opening day.

Everyone (except the Dodgers and Padres, who played two regular-season games in Seoul) is starting all over. Opening day signifies togetherness, hope and some good beer and hot dogs.

Today begins the marathon that is the 162-game baseball season. Where else can you play Monday morning quarterback about your manager's decisions every single day?

The 2024 season figures to be an interesting one. Here are nine of the top storylines to follow in this Major League Baseball season.

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The MLB logo on batting practice balls before a game between the Peoria Javelinas and the Mesa Solar Sox at Sloan Park Sept. 21, 2019, in Mesa, Ariz. (Jill Weisleder/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Dodgers committed to over $1 billion in contracts this offseason, with the big splash being the $700 million deal for Shohei Ohtani. They also gave Japanese import Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had not thrown a pitch in the majors, $325 million. They also traded for, and extended, Tyler Glasnow.

While Ohtani won't pitch this season, he bolsters a lineup that includes Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. That's four MVP Awards in the top three spots of the lineup.

The Dodgers are everyone's World Series favorite, but there's a reason they play the games. Speaking of Ohtani …

Ohtani is on record saying he has never bet on baseball, or sports, and that he is the victim of fraud by his former