MLB opening weekend: Takeaways from early-season baseball action
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Loading... - John Fraser
- 11 Apr 2022
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The first weekend of the season confirmed things we already knew (the Blue Jays can hit) and gave us new things to monitor.
While it's too early to gather real information about trends, some things are readily apparent, and other things will evolve over the 162-game season.
The Sporting News has some incredibly early takeaways from MLB's opening weekend:
Umpire audio is an incredible addition
This is more a general observation. Umpire announcements are a simple addition to the fan experience, but they're already a rousing success for MLB. Allowing everyone in the stadium to know what a call is at the same time leads to moments we need at the ballpark. What's more perfect than hearing an out changed to a walk-off hit on Opening Day?
That moment occurred at Detroit's Comerica Park on Friday after Javier Báez's drive to deep right field appeared to be caught by the White Sox's A.J. Pollock. The game seemed to be heading to extra innings until further review determined that the ball hit the wall prior to Pollock juggling, and then catching, it. Home plate umpire and crew chief Marvin Hudson made the call live, which produced a thunderous reaction rather than the slow uproar that would have occurred in the past with just a simple signal.
The Blue Jays and Mets are must-see TV
Toronto shook off ace José Berrios getting shelled on opening night, coming back from a 7-0 deficit to beat the Rangers. The rally started fittingly: with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singling home George Springer for the first run. The Jays went on to score seven more times before the Rangers tied the game 8-8.
In the bottom of the seventh, there was another umpire announcement of a reversal after Teoscar Hernández slid under a tag at home, giving the Blue Jays a 9-8 lead. They added an insurance run and ended up winning 10-8.
The Blue Jays won the series 2-1, but the bullpen — a pressure point for Toronto heading into the season — had to be busy on opening night after Berrios recorded just one out. Every game at Rogers Centre during the weekend was fun. The Blue Jays will be good, and they'll be great to watch.
As for the Mets, they finished the weekend 3-1 against the Nationals. Offseason pickup Mark Canha had seven hits. Another newcomer, Starling Marte, drove in four runs. Their main mound additions, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt, notched quality starts, making New York one of just two teams to have two starters log quality starts in the opening weekend (the Padres had three against the Diamondbacks).
The Mets' three wins were by a combined 13 runs as the length of their batting order stood out. The universal DH greatly benefits a team with New York's depth. For example, it allows Pete Alonso to stay off the field on occasion, as he did Saturday when he hit a grand slam.
The AL East and NL East races should be thrilling this year with these retooled teams poised to break out.
Unwritten rules aren't going anywhere
The Mets-Nationals and Brewers-Cubs series had tension, with the benches clearing in both. On Friday, the Mets' Francisco Lindor was hit in the face while squaring to bunt, making four New York hit batsmen in two games. That got the Mets out of their dugout. On Saturday, the Brewers' Andrew McCutchen was hit in response to the Cubs' Ian Happ getting drilled. That led to the jostling at Wrigley Field.
Whatever you think of the incidents, they aren't going anywhere. These mound meetups in the first weekend were partly a product of division rivals being familiar with each other, but they're also part of baseball's DNA, for better or worse. McCutchen said he was bothered because he felt the Cubs made it appear as though they were going to pitch to him before they hit him, which wasn't fair play. Read More…
