MLB Opening day, what we learnt
What better way to start the MLB season than to have the Red Sox host their arch-rivals and current World Series Champions the New York Yankees? And what we found out just from that one game is the AL East is going to be closely fought.
Before Sunday, all the talk was about how the Red Sox would compete with New York, given their perceived lack of offense and focus on defence and pitching. Well, by scoring nine runs against the Yankees on Sunday, Boston surprised everyone but themselves and Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who said: “We expected them to score runs. We know they have a very good offensive team.”
We found out that both Josh Beckett and CC Sabathia aren’t at their best yet, and it will take another game or so for them to build up some good arm strength. We also noticed that Sabathia looks over his listed weight of 290 pounds - should Yankee fans be concerned? He did throw 104, however.
On Monday, opening day for most teams, Mark Buehrle showed us why he is a multiple gold glove winner when he first deflected a ground ball with his ankle toward the foul territory next to first base, and then chased it down and flipped the ball with his glove through his legs to Paul Konerko at first base who grabbed it with his bare hand for the out. It will be tough to find a web gem better than that this year, and there are still 163 games per team to go.
The Phillies showed us that they are still the team to beat in the National League, dispatching the Washington Nationals 11-1, while the Nationals themselves showed us that they are still a bad team. The Phillies may have traded Cliff Lee but they did sign a slightly better replacement in Roy Halladay and he showcased his arm by throwing seven strong innings. Giving up one run and striking out nine, he could be on his way to winning 25 games this year and another Cy Young award.
The Blue Jays welcomed back Shaun Marcum from Tommy John surgery and got more than they expected as he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers, but ultimately it was not enough as he finished the day with seven innings, pitched two hits, three runs and six strikeouts.
The Rangers proved they will compete in the AL West and that their line-up will be a threat until the last out as Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a game-winning single in the ninth inning.
The best player in baseball continued to show his dominance by hitting two home runs on opening day. Albert Pujols led the St Louis Cardinals to a comfortable 11-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. If you had money on Pujols to win the NL MVP this season then your investment is looking pretty safe after he went 5-4, two home runs and three RBIs. The Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter got off to a good start pitching six decent innings - is this the start of another CY Young calibre season for the 34-year-old?
If the New York Mets are to compete with the NL East this year they need Johan Santana to perform like he has in the past and on opening day he allowed just one run in six innings of work and struck out five batters. But they will also need David Wright to start hitting for power again and in the first inning he did exactly that by hitting a two-run home run. Let’s give the Mets a month and see if they don’t pick up any injuries before we can call them competitive.
We learnt on Monday that reigning AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke will have a tough time winning games as the Kansas City Royals bullpen is not going to be much help. One surprise however is Kyle Farnsworth who managed to pitch a scoreless inning against the Detroit Tigers - that streak will not last however.
Mr $184million man Joe Mauer only went 1-4 in his first game of the season. Minnesota Twins shouldn’t be too worried though, as it’s only one game. They should however be more worried about their pitching rotation which isn’t the strongest and Scott Baker could only manage 4.2 innings in his start of the year.
Seattle’s Felix Hernandez was many people’s favourite to win the Cy Young this year but after his first start of the year he has some way to go before he is at his full potential. In 6.2 innings he walked six batters and gave up three runs against the Oakland Athletics, Seattle did manage to win the game but they will need their ace to pitch better than that.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, many people’s favourites to finish with the worst record in the majors, pulled off a big win by hammering the LA Dodgers 11-5. Following an off-season where the Pirates traded away most of their team in order to re-build, there won’t be many bright spots this season so the Pirates fans should savour the moment.
After a rough spring Tim Lincecum showed everyone why he is the current NL Cy Young holder pitching seven dominant innings allowing just four hits and striking out seven whilst walking none. It’s going to be a great NL Cy Young award race and Lincecum could win his third in a row.
And finally, Atlanta Braves rookie Jason Heyward lived up to all the hype surrounding his potential by hitting his first ever big league home run in his first at-bat in the big leagues as the Braves clubbed the Chicago Cubs for 16 runs.
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