At 4: 10 p. m. ET on a clear Opening Day at Petco Park, tigers vs padres comes alive over the airwaves — a single first pitch that stretches into a season shaped by roster moves, managerial change and one pitcher’s possible farewell to Detroit. Fans in cars, homes and on apps will find the calls and analysis meant to turn one afternoon into a narrative that can carry a franchise.
Tigers Vs Padres: How to listen and which voices you’ll hear
National radio coverage is on SiriusXM channel 89 and both clubs’ local broadcasts are available on the SiriusXM app. San Diego’s local broadcasts air on 97. 3 The Fan, where Jesse Agler will call the play with Tony Gwynn Jr. as the main analyst. Detroit’s flagship radio home is 97. 1 FM WXYT, where Dan Dickerson remains the primary play-by-play announcer, joined in rotation by analysts Bobby Scales and Andy Dirks. New subscribers can access SiriusXM free for four months, giving wide access to the game’s live presentation.
Why Opening Day matters for both clubs
For San Diego, the season begins with guarded optimism. The Padres enter having reached the playoffs three times in four seasons but with diminishing returns in the postseason. San Diego opens the season with Nick Pivetta on the mound after a career year; the rotation also received a boost with the re-signing of Michael King, while the club lost Dylan Cease and added infield and outfield depth.
For Detroit, Opening Day is framed as the potential start of a final chapter with their ace. Tarik Skubal will take the ball after winning the American League Cy Young Award in each of the last two seasons. His recent season lines — including a 2. 21 ERA, a 0. 89 WHIP across 31 starts and 241 strikeouts in 195. 1 innings — underpin why this season is widely viewed as pivotal for both the pitcher’s future and the Tigers’ championship hopes. Detroit enters the season coming off consecutive ALDS appearances, the last of which ended in a 15-inning Game 5 loss in Seattle that closed their 2025 campaign.
Matchups, moves and managerial change
San Diego countered Detroit’s ace with right-hander Nick Pivetta, whose 2. 87 ERA last season marked a career-best turnaround. Offseason activity for the Padres included re-signing Michael King and adding Sung Mun Song and veteran Nick Castellanos to a lineup that still features Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. A notable change in San Diego’s dugout is the hiring of rookie manager Craig Stammen, who replaces Mike Schildt after Schildt’s retirement. Stammen, 42, arrives four years removed from a lengthy relief-pitching career that included six seasons with the Padres.
The Tigers open a second straight season on the West Coast after dropping four of six to Los Angeles and Seattle to open 2025. Detroit’s head-to-head history with San Diego includes winning two of three matchups last year, with those meetings taking place in Detroit during late April.
What fans will be watching and what organizers are doing
Listeners will be attentive not only to the score but to the cadence of the broadcast: national access on SiriusXM, local flagship continuity in Detroit and San Diego, and the rotating analyst roles that aim to add perspective throughout the season. Clubs have staffed both on-field and broadcast roles to create continuity — from announcers who have long-held assignments to a new manager in San Diego who brings recent player experience into a leadership role.
Practical steps for fans are simple: tune to SiriusXM channel 89 or the app for national coverage, or select the local station in the respective markets for team-focused calls. The first pitch at 4: 10 p. m. ET will be the immediate starting point for a season shaped by the questions surrounding free agency, postseason expectations and managerial direction.
Back at Petco Park, the crowd will hear the first crack of the bat and the broadcasters’ first line. For Detroit, that sound could mark the opening of one last meaningful run with an ace who has rewritten expectations. For San Diego, it is another Opening Day of hope and adjustments. Either way, tigers vs padres will be carried beyond the box score by the voices that broadcast it and the stakes that underlie it — at least until the next pitch changes the story.
