Opening Week/Weekend In Review

Ahhhhhhhh, yes. Can you feel it? I can feel it! Baseball is back, the boys of summer have returned, and all's right with the world. That is, until your team loses, and then the season might as well be over. That’s probably my favorite thing about baseball, the fact that every season is an unbelievably long 162-game marathon, and yet every diehard forgets this simple fact and immediately draws conclusions based on the first game of the season. Nothing I say here will matter come July/August/September, but baseball is back, and I’ll be darned if I’m not gonna talk about it!

Notable “Upsets”, and how much they actually matter

Notice the quotations; these results probably don’t matter at all, but this is the part of the season to make something out of nothing. The Astros looked flat, losing 3-2 to the White Sox and picking up only 4 hits. The Rockies thrashed the Padres 7-2 at home behind 5 RBIs and 4 hits from CJ Cron, who’s clearly an MVP candidate who will make my mention of him in my Power Rankings look so good. The Phillies lost a slugfest to the Rangers, 11-7, indicative of a future sub-.500 season for the Phils and an AL West title for the Rangers. The Athletics took down the Angels 2-1, proving that Shohei Ohtani is washed and the Athletics are surprise World Series contenders.

Here’s what really happened: The Astros immediately bounced back on Friday, winning 6-3 behind bombs from Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker. The Rockies won another against the Padres, who possess a lineup that is far too good to lose many more in Colorado (CJ Cron, however, is still a beast). The Phillies smacked deGrom in his Rangers debut, a pretty good indicator of offensive success for any squad; Nola simply had a rough outing to match deGrom’s, but Nola’s longevity should overshadow any difference between the two over the course of the season. The Phillies also remain without Bryce Harper. And the Angels remain the Angels, even if the Athletics will be, most assuredly, atrocious. This serves as a reminder that early season baseball is pure chaos; in-depth analysis will have to wait until we have a larger sample size. 

The Nationals fall flat in the first loss of many; any bright spots?

Yeah, there are a couple. Meneses picked up right where he left off, with 2 hits and 1 of the Nationals’ 2 runs batted in. Dom Smith and Keibert Ruiz also had 2 hits apiece. The most exciting development, if there’s any development to speak of, would have to be Victor Robles, who picked up a hit and 2 walks in 4 ABs, as well as a defensive gem in the outfield. Everyone knows Robles is a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder, and everyone also knows that he can’t hit to save his life. If that changes, there are big things on the horizon for Robles. 

The worst of the rest

The pitching was rough, although it’s hard to blame the bullpen when you make them pitch 6 innings in the first game of the season. Patrick Corbin, the albatross of the century, gave up 4 runs (2 earned) in 3.0 innings, promptly handing the game off to the bullpen just as he did so many times last season. They held it down, with the notable exception of Kyle Finnegan’s 3-run 9th inning; considering what they were asked to do, it’s hard to expect anything more. The focus for the rest of the season will be giving the bullpen, which is shockingly talented, a little help from the starters, who absolutely must start going deep into games. The last thing the Nats want to do right now is to blow out the arms of any young pitcher on this staff; that, of course, is why they’re willing to lose games by giving pitchers like Patrick Corbin 200 innings a year. If the starters can go 5-6 innings a game about 75% of the time, that would be a massive improvement over last year, giving the bullpen a chance to shine without being overworked. 

CJ Abrams struggles defensively

Abrams headlined the Juan Soto/Josh Bell trade with San Diego last year. His time with the Nationals last year is best characterized by his 75 OPS+, well below league average; until his bat develops (if his bat develops), Abrams is a glove-first shortstop. The glove-first shortstop committed 3 errors on Opening Day, directly leading to a couple unearned runs and quickly destroying Corbin’s confidence in his defense. Corbin thrives when his slider gets swings-and-misses or weak contact; he was inducing a lot of weak contact that the Nats infield could not corral. That starts with CJ Abrams, who has to put this one behind him and get back to defensive excellence. 

The Nats get Atlanta again today and tomorrow, so be on the lookout for a series recap soon! In the meantime, thanks for reading, and see you soon.

Emory