Everything You Need to Know Entering Opening Weekend

Plus, Kelsie Whitmore signs with the Staten Island FerryHawks and one last round of trivia.

Yesterday was an absolute blast, but it was more of an abridged version of Opening Day because there were only seven games. The other 16 teams begin their seasons today, and there are plenty of great matchups to watch. Let’s run through a few of the ones I’m most anticipating, along with the other noteworthy ones for the rest of the weekend.

Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports

Yankees vs. Red Sox - 1:05 p.m. ET, Yankee Stadium, Bronx

The greatest rivalry in sports plays the first game of the day. Gerrit Cole pitches for the Yankees, who made defense their priority this offseason when they acquired third baseman Josh Donaldson and shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Twins in exchange for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela.

Donaldson will bat leadoff against Red Sox ace Nathan Eovaldi, who stifled New York in last year’s AL wild-card game. At times last year, the Yankees looked lost at the plate, but they have too many good hitters—Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, Joey Gallo and DJ LeMahieu—not to turn things around. Trevor Story will make his Red Sox debut, playing second base.

Phillies vs. A’s - 3:05 p.m. ET, Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

Yeah, the A’s are going to be horrible this year, but I won’t be tuning in for them. Instead, I’ll be watching this game to see the first day of Phillies Big Boi Ball. Kyle Schwarber is batting leadoff and playing left. Nick Castellanos is the DH, batting cleanup. Reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper is hitting third. This team is going to mash and be absolutely atrocious on defense. That’s part of the fun!

Rockies vs. Dodgers - 4:10 p.m. ET, Coors Field, Denver

Freddie Freeman debuts with the Dodgers, Kris Bryant debuts with the Rockies … AND they’re playing at high altitudes. Let’s see some dingers!

Twins vs. Mariners - 4:10 p.m. ET, Target Field, Minneapolis

The first episode of The J-Rod Show is going to be must-see TV. In addition to Julio Rodríguez’s big-league debut, we’ll also get to see the deepest Mariners lineup in years (J-Rod, Mitch Haniger, Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suárez, Adam Frazier, among others). Reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Rays makes his first start with the Mariners after they signed him to a five-year, $115 million deal back in November.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s lineup is also much improved. We’ll get to see Carlos Correa in his first regular-season game since signing with the Twins. Bryon Buxton is one of the most electrifying players in baseball. I’ll also be a Gary Sánchez defender forever. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he performs with his new team.

Analytics darling Joe Ryan gets the ball for the Twins on Opening Day. If you don’t know Ryan, Tom Verducci profiled him last May while he was still a prospect with the Rays. Ryan was Minnesota’s return in the trade with Tampa Bay for Nelson Cruz. Tomorrow, we’ll see Sonny Gray make his first start since the Reds traded him to the Twins last month.

Nationals vs. Mets - 7:05 p.m. ET, Nationals Park, Washington D.C.

Max Scherzer makes his Mets debut, pitching against the Nationals in D.C. for the first time since they traded him to the Dodgers in July. Let’s see if Scherzer can carve up the gutted Nats lineup, which features Juan Soto, the aforementioned Cruz (who signed with Washington this offseason) and not much else.

Worth noting: This game is on Apple TV+, which anyone with an Apple ID account can watch for free through the Apple TV app. Well, for a limited time only because MLB wants to make it as difficult as possible for fans to watch games. Still, if you can, you should absolutely tune in to this game tonight.

Blue Jays vs. Rangers - 7:07 p.m. ET, Rogers Centre, Toronto

This series is going to be a treat. The Blue Jays are the favorite to win the American League pennant, and the Rangers invested $500 million in their middle infield this offseason when they signed Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, who was one of the best players in baseball last year while playing second with Toronto. Even if Texas wasn’t playing the Blue Jays I’d be tuning in to see Seager and Semien make their Rangers debuts.

The Blue Jays are perhaps the most exciting team in baseball. Love flashy offenses? Toronto’s lineup is full of stars—Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and George Springer—who swing early and often. The Blue Jays ranked first in home runs and slugging percentage last season and struck out fewer than any other team. As Verducci wrote last year, “They are the baddest, most hack-tastic, most fastball-chomping, most aggressive-swinging team in baseball.” Love dazzling defense? They have Matt Chapman playing third base! Love good starting pitching? This rotation is much improved from this time last year, even after losing Robbie Ray in free agency. José Berríos starts on Opening Day, followed, in some order that’s not officially set, by Kevin Gausman, Hyun Jin Ryu, Alek Manoah and Yusei Kikuchi.

Angels vs. Astros - 9:38 p.m. ET, Angel Stadium, Anaheim

In another Apple TV+ game, the Angels host the Astros for their second game of the season. Houston took last night’s opener, 3–1, but the Halos looked like a much better team than we’ve seen for much of the last decade. Their pitching might actually be good enough this season (more on this in the next section). I’m watching this game for Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, but I’m also very interested in how rookie lefthander Reid Detmers, L.A.’s top prospect, does in his first start of the season.

Tomorrow night’s game between the two teams is also one worth watching. Justin Verlander pitches for the first time since he underwent Tommy John surgery following his only start in 2020. He’ll face Noah Syndergaard, who is also coming off Tommy John surgery, in his Angels debut. Syndergaard pitched twice last year with the Mets as a one-inning opener, but this will be the first time we see him back as a regular starter since ’19.

Have any questions for our team? Send a note to mlb@si.com.

1. THE OPENER

The Opener, our morning column published every weekday during the regular season, is officially back for a second regular season. Today, Nick Selbe wrote about the Angels’ improved pitching staff and what that could mean for their playoff hopes this year.

The Angels Finally Have the Pitching to Make Playoffs—Maybe by Nick Selbe
Yes, the Halos lost to the Astros on Opening Day, but there was something different about the way in which it happened.

2. ICYMI

The week of Opening Day is always a busy time for all of us who cover baseball. I’m especially proud of all the great stories we published this week. Let’s run through the ones from the last two days.

Yesterday morning, we ran two features by Verducci on the two best players in baseball, Ohtani and Trout. Read together as a package, these stories showcase the two superstars, at vastly different points in their careers, trying to do whatever they can to be better than anything we’ve ever seen before. Their hope is that maybe that will be enough for them to reach the postseason.

Raj Mehta/USA TODAY Sports

We Haven’t Seen the Best of Shohei Ohtani by Tom Verducci
Baseball’s most incredible player just might follow up the most amazing season in history with something even better.

Remember Mike Trout? MLB’s Best Player Is Back With More to Prove by Tom Verducci
Injuries have done to him what pitchers couldn’t do for years: stop him cold. Now, he’s ready to lead the Angels to the playoffs—and show that he’s still No. 1.

Stephanie Apstein is in Augusta covering the Masters this week, but that didn’t prevent her from writing this superb profile of Giants righthander Logan Webb. At this time last year, Webb was a self-doubting nobody. Now, he’s the Opening Day starter for a team coming off a 107-win season.

The Making of a Giants Ace: Inside Logan Webb’s Star Turn by Stephanie Apstein
San Francisco’s Opening Day starter was always good enough. He just had to stop feeling sorry for himself.

The most important baseball news this week had nothing to do with Opening Day. Instead, it came in the Atlantic League. Two-way player Kelsie Whitmore signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks.

This morning, longtime baseball and women’s sports writer Howard Megdal broke the news of Whitmore’s historic signing for SI and detailed her journey to become the first woman in more than a generation to play for such a high-level professional league.

How Kelsie Whitmore Became the Face of Women’s Baseball Progress by Howard Megdal
The 23-year-old signed with the Atlantic League’s Staten Island FerryHawks yesterday. She hopes she won’t be the last.

Whitmore :: Joe Langan/Staten Island FerryHawks

Last night, Emma Baccellieri waited out the rain in D.C. to cover the Opening Day game between the Nationals and Mets. The awful weather wasn’t the worst thing about the scene, though. Instead, the biggest disappointment was seeing just how far the Nats have fallen since they won it all in 2019.

Nats’ Dreary Opener a Reminder of How Quickly Their Title Team Vanished by Emma Baccellieri
Washington crumbled after the championship two years ago, and the start to what will inevitably be another rebuilding season displayed just as much.

99 Things to Look Forward During the 2022 Season by Will Laws and Nick Selbe
Let’s count down the reasons for fans to be excited this year, one for every day of the lockout.

Regular-Season, Playoff and World Series Predictions by SI MLB Staff

A few other things:

First, the Cardinals destroyed the Pirates yesterday afternoon in St. Louis. It was Albert Pujols’s first game with them since the 2011 World Series. Pujols went 0-for-5, but he reached base twice, once on an E6 and again on a fielder’s choice with an E1.

Tyler O’Neill went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run and five RBIs. Nolan Arenado and Tommy Edman also went yard. Paul Goldschmidt went 1-for-1 with four walks and a stolen base. Meanwhile, Adam Wainwright dominated across six scoreless innings. He allowed five hits, no walks and struck out six. Reminder: he’s 40 years old.

Bobby Witt Jr. made his MLB debut yesterday and drove in the go-ahead run on an eighth-inning double in the Royals’ 3–1 win over the Guardians. Zack Greinke, back with Kansas City, went 5 2/3 innings and allowed one run.

There was a trade yesterday morning! The Twins acquired right-handed starter Chris Paddack and reliever Emilio Pagán from the Padres in exchange for lefty reliever Taylor Rogers and outfielder Brent Rooker.

The Yankees and Aaron Judge could not come to terms on an extension before today’s game, which was the deadline Judge set for extension talks.

3. WORTH NOTING from Nick Selbe

The Angels began the 2022 season with a loss, but the night saw yet another historic performance by Ohtani. The reigning MVP became the first player in AL/NL history to throw his team’s first pitch of the season and take his team’s first at bat of the season as a hitter. The new “Ohtani rule” will enable him to remain in the game as a designated hitter even after he’s been removed from pitching duties. But don’t expect the added workload to come at the expense of perhaps the most overlooked part of Ohtani’s game: his speed.

Manager Joe Maddon said prior to Thursday’s game that he has placed no limitations on Ohtani, even with regard to stealing bases. Ohtani ranked fifth in the AL with 26 swipes last season—and also led the majors by being caught 10 times.

“Honestly, whatever he wants to do,” Maddon said. “I put the ‘no go’ sign on sometimes, if the pitcher’s really quick to the plate, or the catcher throws well, I’ll put the hold on him. For the most part, I don’t like to put the hold on anybody, I like guys to go play baseball.

“He always wants to go. He likes to run.”

4. TRIVIA! from Matt Martell

Quick for a programming note: This is the last newsletter for a while that will feature a regular weekly trivia question because we actually have baseball to watch! This section will primarily focus on looking ahead, as it was during the playoffs when we first started this newsletter. I’ll still throw a trivia question in from time to time, but it won’t be every week.

Last Week’s Question: During his first stint with the Cardinals, from 2001 to ’11, Pujols led the majors with 445 home runs. Who hit the second most homers?

Answer: Alex Rodriguez (440)

This Week’s Question: Last night, the Mets improved to 40–21 on Opening Day. Their .656 Opening Day winning percentage ranks first in MLB. Which team has the second highest Opening Day winning percentage?

5. THE CLOSER from Emma Baccellieri

The best Opening Day highlight may not have come from the field. In my book, it was this moment, when a young Nats fan caught Juan Soto’s home run ball, and his father was beside himself with joy.

@Nationals/Twitter

It was cold and gray—the game had initially been pushed back three hours for rain and then delayed another hour once fans were actually at the park—and the Nats were losing. Yet this kind of sheer happiness could shine through here, anyway. Hard to think of a better reminder of what Opening Day is supposed to stand for!

That’s all from us today. We’ll be back in your inbox next Friday. In the meantime, share this newsletter with your friends and family, and tell them to sign up at SI.com/newsletters. If you have any questions or comments, shoot us an email at mlb@si.com.