By Manuel Polanco
March 27: the smell of sizzling burgers, freshly cut grass, warm spring air, and the sound of thousands of fans cheering their teams on, fill the air on a beautiful afternoon. This is the beauty of Opening Day in baseball.
A new season unveils new opportunities for rookies to make names for themselves on their respective teams, the emergence of new rivals, and above all, a team that will be crowned champion at the end of the 162-game marathon.
Before Opening Day, the defending champions, LA Dodgers took on the Chicago Cubs in a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. This series took place from March 18 to March 19 and saw the Dodgers win both games, 6-3 and 4-1 respectively. This series was historic because multiple Japanese players participated in this series, including Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzaki, and the opening pitcher of the series, Shota Imanaga.
The defending champs would start the year 2-0 and have a lot of expectations to repeat considering how much money they spent in the offseason and the amount of talent they have on the roster.
For the NY Yankees, this opening week saw them hit 15 home runs in the first three games of the season. On Saturday, March 29, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit three homers in one game, and came up short for his fourth one.
This game saw the Bronx Bombers hit nine homers in one game, which became a record. This game started off with a bang as the first three pitches of the game were hit for homers. The Yankees began the season 3-0 after their sweep of the Brewers.
This offensive explosion didn’t go unnoticed, however, as many fans pointed out the fact that many Yankees players were using a new bat, which looked a bit fuller on certain parts of it. This new bat, dubbed “The Torpedo Bat,” is nothing new to the game and is designed uniquely for each player. This bat makes it easier to barrel the ball while also adding more wood to the section of the bat where the batter makes most contact with.
Of course, many fans saw this as cheating, and Brewers relief pitcher Trevor Megill felt the same.
“I think it’s terrible. We’ll see what the data says. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I feel like it’s something used in slow-pitch softball. It’s genius: Put the mass all in one spot. It might be bush [league]. It might not be. But it’s the Yankees, so they’ll let it slide,” said Megill, via the NY Post.
Across town, the NY Mets began their season away in Houston as they faced off against the Houston Astros for a three-game set. The excitement of finally seeing Juan Soto play a full season in Citi Field was about to begin and Met fans were ecstatic.
Clay Holmes started the first game of the season and went 4 ⅔ innings, with four strikeouts and an unfortunate loss.
The Mets lost the game 3-1, but not without drama, as Soto had a chance for a signature moment in the ninth inning. Astros closer Josh Hader loaded the bases and got the next two batters while giving up a run, and Soto came up to bat. In an intense at bat, Soto would strike out with the bases loaded on a slider away, his signature moment yet to come.
The second game would fare better for the Mets, who won 3-1. Soto’s first signature moment came as he hit his first home run as a Met against Astros pitcher Hunter Brown in the third inning. Closer Edwin Diaz came in to solidify the win and get the save, as the Mets would win their first game of the year 3-1.
An apparent problem is that leadoff hitter Fransico Lindor has been hitless so far, as the Mets offense has been hindered in these two games.
Game three saw yet another Mets loss, but some positive outcomes as well. Newly signed pitcher Griffin Canning made his Mets debut and was stellar . He threw 5 ⅔ innings with four strikeouts and two earned runs. Even though he ended up with a loss, Canning’s debut showed very encouraging signs for his tenure as a Met, and he looked like a completely different pitcher than when he was with the LA Angels.
The Mets offense was once again shut down as Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti pitched six innings with five strikeouts and gave up only one hit in his start. The Mets’ slow offensive start in these three games was not how they wanted to start the year, and the team hopes to spark the flames in their next series in Miami against the Miami Marlins.
Another great opening day and the start of the 162 game marathon has begun, and the top teams will duke it out to see who is crowned champion.