Opening Day 2022: 5 things to know on MLB's first day of the season

Baseball fans congregate in ballparks all across the US on Thursday as Major League Baseball celebrated Opening Day, the first day of the league's season.

Over the course of 162 games, 30 MLB teams will jockey for playoff positions before competing for the World Series in November, which the Atlanta Braves won last year.

Atlanta Braves player celebrate after defeating the Houston Astros in game six of the Major League Baseball World Series to win the 2021 World Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. EPA

Here are five things to know for Opening Day 2022:

This year's MLB season began a week later than scheduled after a 99-day lockout that began in December, MLB's first work stoppage since 1994-95. It was the second-longest lockout in the league's history and the first to compromise the season.

Major League Baseball's owners' and players' union fought over several issues in the collective bargaining agreement that eventually raised the minimum player salary to $700,000 per year and includes measures to curb anti-competitive behaviour.

Commissioner Rob Manfred had previously cancelled the first two weeks of games before a deal was reached on March 12

Canadian-American executive Farhan Zaidi was voted 2021 MLB Executive of the Year after the San Francisco Giants won a franchise-record 107 games.

Mr Zaidi, born to Pakistani parents, is one of two Muslim executives in MLB and has been the Giants' President Of Baseball Operations since 2018.

Mr Zaidi, whom the Giants pried away from rivals Los Angeles Dodgers, made a series of moves ahead of July 2021's trade deadline that propelled the Giants into an unlikely 107-win season. It was the first time the team had a winning record since 2016.

Players who do not have a