MLB Preview: San Francisco Giants (0-0) at New York Yankees (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: San Francisco Giants (0-0) at New York Yankees (0-0)

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: The Giants open their 66th season in San Francisco and 141st in franchise history back in the city where it all began as they face off against the New York Yankees today on Opening Day…these are the first meetings between the Giants and Yankees since 2019 when the Yankees swept the Giants in a three-game series at Oracle Park…the last time SF played here in The Bronx was 2016 when they went 1-2.

ANY TORRISI RESERVATIONS AVAILABLE?: Today’s game is the first in a stretch of nine straight day games for SF to open the season (all three games here in NYC, all three games in Chicago against the White Sox and the first three games of the club’s first homestand vs. Kansas City)…according to Elias, this is the first time in at least the last 30 years (as far back as their reliable data goes) that the Giants have opened up a season with nine straight day games…the last MLB team to do so were the 2019 White Sox, who opened the year with 11 straight day games.

BACK IN THE NEW YORK GROOVE: The Giants are opening a Major League season in New York City for the first time since they were actually the New York Giants and opened up the 1956 season vs. Pittsburgh on April 17, 1956 at the Polo Grounds V…the Giants won that day, 4-3, with Johnny Antonelli picking up the win on the mound while also hitting a homer at the plate.

TIME IS A CIRCLE: This opening series marks the first time that the Giants have opened a season in the Eastern Time Zone since opening against the Florida Marlins in 2000.

NEW LEAGUE, WHO DIS?: Oddly enough with this year’s new balanced schedule, the Giants are opening the year with nine straight games against American League opponents (the Yankees and White Sox on this road trip and then the Royals to open the home slate)…SF doesn’t play a National League opponent until they meet the Dodgers at Oracle Park April 10-12.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN: IF Brandon Crawford is expected to start this afternoon’s opener against New York, marking the 12th Opening Day start of his career, giving him sole possession of fourth-most all-time in the SF-era (see below)…the 12 consecutive Opening Day starts by Crawford dating to 2012 will tie Barry Bonds for the second-longest streak in SF Giants history (1958-pres)…the only one with a longer consecutive Opening Day-start streak was OF Willie Mays, who started 15 consecutive openers from 1958-72

POP THE TOP: The Giants are 76-63-1 (.543) all-time on Opening Day as a franchise and 38-27 (.585) since 1958…the Giants .543 winning percentage on Opening Day is seventh-best overall and fourth-best since 1958

LOGAN WEBB RHP #62
WITH THE GIANTS: Embarks on his fifth season with SF…is on his fourth career Opening Day roster (also 2020-2022) and is making his second career Opening Day start (also last season).

COME ON IN, WE’RE OPEN: As stated above, Webb is making his second consecutive Opening Day start after starting last year’s opener on April 8 vs. Miami, a game SF won 6-5 in 10 innings…Webb is the first Giants pitcher to get consecutive Opening Day starts since LHP Madison Bumgarner started four consecutive season lid lifters from 2014-2017…the last Giants righty to get consecutive Opening Day starts was Tim Lincecum, who started four straight from 2009-2012.

2023 SPRING TRAINING: Webb went 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA (9er, 18.0ip) in five official Spring Training starts…his most recent came on Saturday vs. Seattle at Scottsdale Stadium where he twirled 5.0 innings and allowed one run on eight hits while striking out six and walking three…over his final two spring starts, Webb struck out 12 batters in 9.1 innings.

2022 SEASON: Wrapped up his fourth Major League season and continued to build his resumé as one of the top starters in the Majors…Webb set career bests in wins (15), ERA (2.90), innings pitched (192.1) and strikeouts (163) as he officially went 15-9 with a 2.90 ERA in a career-best 32 starts…Webb’s 2.90 ERA and 192.1 innings pitched were seventh-best in the National League.

VS. NEW YORK-AL: Has never faced the Yankees in his Major League career

LOGAN’S WEBB: Over the last two seasons as Webb has come into his own, the Giants as a team are 39-19 (.672) in games that he has started…the Giants .672 winning percentage in his starts during the regular season over the last two years is third best in the Majors (min. 45gs) behind the Dodgers when Julio Urías starts (47-16, .746) and when Max Scherzer has started for his clubs (36-17, .679)(Stats, LLC)…Webb himself in those 58 starts is 26-12 with a 2.97 ERA and 320 strikeouts in 339.2 innings with a 1.14 WHIP.

WHAT IS A DINGER?: Webb’s 0.51 homers/9.0ip ratio in 2022 was fourth-best in the Majors behind Jose Quintana (0.43), HOU’s Framber Valdez (0.49) and TEX’s Martín Pérez (0.50)… the righty allowed just 11 homers in 192.1 innings last year for SF.

NEW YORK YANKEES NOTES:

No release available

MLB Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates (0-0) at Cincinnati Reds (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates (0-0) at Cincinnati Reds (0-0)

PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR: Today the Pirates begin their 137th season of professional baseball in the National League…The Bucs have produced a 72-64 record in their first 136 N.L. openers (56-49 on the road and 16-15 at home)…The Pirates began the 2022 campaign with a loss at St. Louis on April 7.

FOR OPENERS: Mitch Keller will make his first career Opening Day start for the Pirates…This is the seventh straight year the Pirates will have a different pitcher start on Opening Day…JT Brubaker got the starting nod last year on Opening Day in St. Louis, Chad Kuhl had the honors in 2021, Joe Musgrove took the hill on Opening Day 2020, Jameson Taillon started in 2019, Ivan Nova got the nod in 2018 and Gerrit Cole did it in 2017 (the last Pirate to start Opening Day in consecutive years was Francisco Liriano from 2014-16)…Since 2000, Keller is now the ninth different homegrown pitcher to start on Opening Day.

THE MATURATION OF MITCH: Mitch Keller posted a 3.22 ERA (120.1ip/43er) in his last 22 starting assignments last season after rejoining the rotation on May 31…Keller’s 3.22 ERA from May 31 through the end of the regular season ranked 12th among all qualified National League pitchers during that time.

COMING OF AGE: At 26 years and 360 days old, Mitch Keller will become the youngest Opening Day starting pitcher for the Pirates since Gerrit Cole got the honors in 2017 at 26 years and 207 days.

WELCOME HOME CUTCH: Andrew McCutchen returned to the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason after signing a one-year contract on January 20…McCutchen was a member of Pittsburgh’s Opening Day roster for eight straight seasons from 2010-17, making seven straight starts in center field before starting in right field in 2017… McCutchen was the first Pittsburgh player to make seven straight Opening Day starts in center field since Andy Van Slyke did so from 1988-1994.

THE CENTER OF IT ALL: The Pirates have used a different Opening Day starter in center field in each of the last five seasons…Coming into this year, the previous five players manning center field on Opening Day were Bryan Reynolds (2022), Anthony Alford (2021), Jarrod Dyson (2020), JB Shuck (2019) and Starling Marte (2018).

GREAT AMERICAN RESULTS: Andrew McCutchen enters today with 21 career home runs here at Great American Ball Park…That’s tied for the fourth-most by any visiting player in the ballpark’s history along with Albert Pujols, trailing only Ryan Braun (28), Lance Berkman (23) and Anthony Rizzo (22).

SEEING RED: The Pirates are facing the Reds for the 31st time in their Opening Day game, however, the Reds will be facing the Pirates for the 30th time…Because of a scheduling quirk in 2001, the Reds opened the season with one game against the Braves before hosting the Bucs in a three-game series…Dating back to their first Opening Day meeting in 1892, Pittsburgh has gone 19-11 against Cincinnati on Opening Day while Cincinnati has posted a 10-19 record against Pittsburgh…The teams most recently met in the season opener in 2019, with the Reds winning a 5-3 decision.

OPENING ON THE ROAD: The Bucs are opening the season on the road for the seventh straight year and for the eighth time in the last nine years…Prior to the last seven years, the last time the Pirates opened on the road more than seven straight years was when they did so in 60 straight seasons from 1894 to 1953…The Pirates have now opened the regular season on the road 105 times, compared to just 32 times on their home turf.

RED HOT AGAINST CINCY: Ke’Bryan Hayes enters today with a .342 career average (38-for-111) against the Reds… The only five players with a higher average against the Reds since the beginning of the 2020 season (minimum 60 plate appearances) are Ben Gamel (.361), Austin Riley (.358), Harrison Bader (.350), Nico Hoerner (.349) and Kris Bryant (.344)…Hayes has hit safely in 14 of 17 career games at Great American, going 24-for-67 (.358).

THE ROAD AHEAD: Pittsburgh’s season-opening road trip will also take the team to Boston for a three-game series against the Red Sox…It will be Pittsburgh’s third trip to Fenway Park in interleague play after also doing so in 2005 and 2017.

SPRING TRAINING RECAP: The Pirates went 9-18-4 in spring training in their 55th season of spring training in Bradenton…It was the 100th year of baseball being played in Bradenton…Ke’Bryan Hayes paced the Pirates with four home runs while hitting .341 average (14-for-41) in 15 games…Canaan Smith-Njigba recorded a team-leading 14 RBI, which were tied for the third-most in the Grapefruit League…JT Brubaker ranked third in the Grapefruit League with 26 strikeouts, while Johan Oviedo finished tied for seventh with 24 punchouts.

23 – RHP MITCH KELLER
YEAR W-L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO
2022 5-12 3.91 31 29 0 0 159.0 162 77 69 60 138
2023 0-0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
M.L.CAREER 12-29 5.00 70 68 0 0 329.1 374 194 183 143 311

MITCH KELLER: The26-year-oldrighthander will make his first career Opening Day start this afternoon…Went1-1 with a3.45ERA (15.2ip/6er) in five starts during spring training…Made his last spring training appearance on 3/18against the Twins.

vs. CINCINNATI:1-4 with a6.80ERA in 11career starts (49.0ip/37er)…Went0-1 with a7.07ERA (14.0ip/11er) in three starts in 2022…Lost an 8-2decision (4.2ip/5er)at PNCParkon 5/13, had a no-decision (4.1ip/5er) in an 8-5 win in game two of a doubleheader at Great American BallPark on 5/7and had a no-decision (5.0ip/1r)on 9/27atPNCPark…Went1-2 with a6.55ERA (22.0ip/16er) in five starts during the 2021 season…Made his MLB debut hereat GABP on 5/27/19in game two of a doubleheader, where he lost an 8-1decision (4.0ip/6r) to Sonny Gray

CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:

147th Home Opening Day Game
This afternoon’s game will be the Reds’ 147th Home Opening Day game, their 21st home opener at Great American Ball Park and their 20th to open a season at GABP…the Reds are 70-75-1 in home openers, including 65-69-1 vs National League opponents, 1-2 vs American League opponents (3-1 loss in 13 innings vs LAA in 2013, 9-7 win vs Det in 2020, 10-5 loss vs Cle in 2022) and 8-12 at GABP…is expected to be the 124th regular season sellout at GABP and the 19th sellout of the 21 season home openers (excluding the 2020 & 2021 seasons affected by COVID-19)… Thursday afternoon’s is the first of the Reds’ 2 Opening Day games…a week later in Philadelphia, on April 6, the Reds will be the opponent for the Phillies’ home opener at Citizens Bank Park.

Reds vs Pirates on Opening Day
The Reds are playing the Pirates for the 30th time on Opening Day, but the Pirates are playing the Reds for the 31st time in their Opening Day game…because of a scheduling oddity in 2001, the Reds opened the season with 1 game vs the Braves, then began a traditional 3-game series vs the Pirates, who were “off” the day prior…dating back to 1892, Cin is 10-19 vs Pit in 29 season openers, while Pit is 19-11 vs Cin in their 30 openers…the teams most recently met in the season opener in 2019, when Zach Duke and the Reds beat Jameson Taillon, 5-3…Reds starter Luis Castillo threw 5.2 innings (2h, 1er, 3bb, 8k), while Pirates starter Taillon went 6.0 innings (5h, 4er, 2bb, 4k)…Cin’s José Peraza and pinch hitter Derek Dietrich homered, as did Pit’s Corey Dickerson…on Opening Day 2003, the Reds and Pirates played the first regular season game at Great American Ball Park…that 2003 game was the first season opener between the Reds and Pirates since 1963.

Opening Day Veteran
Joey Votto leads all players with 14 games and 61 plate apps on Opening Day games at Great American Ball Park (14-53, .264, 1 2b, 3hr, 7rbi)…he homered in 2010 off StL’s Chris Carpenter, in 2011 off Mil’s Kameron Loe and in 2020 off Det’s Matthew Boyd…according to @EliasSports, 154 players have played for the Reds in the previous 19 season openers played at GABP.

Opening Day Starter
RHP Hunter Greene will make his first career Opening Day start…at age 23 years, 236 days, he will become the first pitcher age 25 or under to start for the Reds on Opening Day since 1980, when at age 22 years, 232 days RHP Frank Pastore beat Phil Niekro and the Braves, 9-0.

Short Hops
For the seventh consecutive year, the Reds will start a different shortstop on Opening Day (Zack Cozart 2012-2017, José Peraza 2018, José Iglesias 2019, Freddy Galvis 2020, Eugenio Suárez 2021, Kyle Farmer 2022)…will be the Reds’ longest such streak since 1900 for that position…3 previous times since 1900, there were stretches of at least 7 straight Opening Days without consecutive starts at shortstop by the same player (though not necessarily 7 different shortstops): 1906-1914 (Mike Mowrey, 2 starts), 1968-1974 (Dave Concepcion, 3 starts) and 2004-2012 (Alex Gonzalez, 2 starts)…in 2022, Kyle Farmer led the Reds with 97 starts at shortstop…on 11/18/22, Farmer was traded to the Twins for RHP Casey Legumina…courtesy @EliasSports.

Bonus Baseball
The Reds are 11-3 in Home Opening Day extra-inning games, most recently a 13-inning, 3-1 loss vs LAA in 2013 that ranked as the second-longest Opening Day in team history…most recently won an extra-inning Opening Day game in 1990 at Hou (8-4 win, 11 innings) and most recently won an extra-inning game at home in 1988 (5-4 win vs StL, 12 innings).

At Night & On The Road
The Reds played 3 openers at night (1966, 1994, 2020)…opened on the road 6 times, including 3 times because of inclement weather (1877, 1885, 1966), twice because of labor strife (1990, 2022) and once as scheduled (1888).

TODAY’S GAME
• Is the Reds’ 147th Home Opening Day game and their 21st home opener at Great American Ball Park…are 8-12 in home openers at GABP.

• The Reds are 70-75-1 in home openers overall.

• Is Game 1 of the 2023 championship season and Game 1 of a 6-game homestand that concludes with a 3-game series vs the Cubs.

• Following this homestand the Reds will travel to Phi (3g) and to Atl (3g) for their first road trip, including the Phillies’ home opener next Thu.

SERIES NOTES
• In 2022, the Reds went 7-12 vs Pit and finished the season with a 7-game losing streak, their longest vs the Pirates since a 7-game skid from 7/20- 9/28, 2018.

• Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons at Great American Ball Park, the Reds are 12-7 vs Pit with a 121-70 advantage in runs scored.

• The Reds have won 22 of the last 36 games overall vs the Pirates, including 17 of the last 24 games vs Pit at GABP.

21 Hunter Greene, RHP

• Is 23 years, 236 days old…in just his second season, this afternoon is making his 25th Major League appearance and start.

• Will become the first pitcher age 25 or under to start for the Reds on Opening Day since 1980, when at age 22 years, 232 days RHP Frank Pastore beat Phil Niekro and the Braves, 9-0…courtesy @EliasSports.

• Will become the first second-year pitcher to start for the Reds on Opening Day since 26-year-old RHP Raisel Iglesias started the 6-2 win vs the Phillies in the 2016 season opener…courtesy @EliasSports.

• In 2022, in his age 22 season ranked among National League rookie pitching leaders in starts (1st, 24), innings pitched (2nd, 125.2), strikeouts (2nd, 164), opponents’ BA (2nd, .222), WHIP (2nd, 1.21) and ERA (6th, 4.44).

• Led the Reds’ staff in starts, innings pitched and strikeouts.

• Was 1 of only 7 pitchers in the National League and 16 pitchers in the Major Leagues to throw a shutout.

• Was the National League Player of the Week for 6/6-6/12, the only Reds player so honored in 2022 (2gs, 1-0, 0.75, 12ip, 3h, 1er, 2bb, 15k, .079baa).

• Was 1 of only 6 Major League rookies to win his league’s Player of the Week award (Chc’s Seiya Suzuki, LAA’s Reid Detmers, Sea’s Julio Rodríguez, KC’s Vinnie Pasquantino, Cle’s Steven Kwan).

• Is the only Major League rookie since 1900 to produce in a season at least 3 apps in which he threw at least 6.0 innings with at least 8 strikeouts and no more than 1 hit (5/15 at Pit, 6/6 vs Ari, 8/1 at Mia)…no pitcher in modern history, regardless of rookie status, has produced more than 3 such games…in his final start of the season, in Game 160 vs Cubs, recorded 6.0 innings and 8 strikeouts but allowed 2 hits.

• Allowed 2 runs or fewer in all 9 of his starts in which he pitched at least 6.0 innings, 8 times allowed no more than 1 run and 4 times in those 9 apps allowed 0 runs.

• In his last 8 starts of the season posted a 1.75 ERA (46.1ip, 30h, 66k).

• In his last 6 starts of the season posted a 1.02 ERA, the third-lowest ERA ever by a Reds rookie over any single-season, 6-start span behind Gary Nolan (0.75, June-July 1967) and Elmer Riddle (0.88, August 1941).

• From 8/5-9/16 missed 43 days and 40 games while on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain…went 4-12, 5.26 in 20 starts prior to the injury and 1-1, 0.78 in 4 starts after he came off the 15-day IL.

• Following his 2022 rookie season was the Reds’ nominee for MLB’s prestigious Lou Gehrig Memorial Award for exemplary contributions to his community.

• Was selected by the Reds in the first round (2nd overall pick) of the June 2017 first-year player draft…was rated by MLB.com the best overall prospect and by Baseball America the best high school player in that draft…the Twins selected high school SS Royce Lewis with the No. 1 overall pick.

• Heading into the 2017 draft, became the 13th high school athlete ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

• Missed the 2019 season while recovering from 4/9/19 “Tommy John” surgery.

MLB Preview: Detroit Tigers (0-0) at Tampa Bay Rays (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: Detroit Tigers (0-0) at Tampa Bay Rays (0-0)

DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS OPEN 2023 SEASON AT TAMPA BAY:
The Tigers begin the 2023 regular season this afternoon as they face the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Following this weekend’s three-game set against the Rays, the season-opening, six-game road trip continues with three games at Houston (April 3-5).

ROSTER MOVES: The Tigers have made the following roster moves:

*Placed RHP Beau Brieske on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to March 27, with right upper arm discomfort

*Placed RHP Michael Lorenzen on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to March 27, with a left groin strain

*Placed INF Tyler Nevin on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to March 27, with a left oblique strain

*Selected LHP Chasen Shreve and RHP Trey Wingenter to the 40-man roster

*Optioned LHP Tyler Holton to Triple A Toledo

*Designated RHP Edwin Uceta for assignment

OPENING DAY NOTES: Today’s contest against the Rays marks the 123rd Opening Day in Tigers history. The club enters action today with a 60- 61-1 record in the previous 122 openers. Detroit has won its season opener in nine of the last 11 seasons, which is tied for the second-best win
percentage in such games across all teams in baseball since the start of 2012 (first, Houston at .909). Tigers manager A.J. Hinch is undefeated in nine career Opening Day contests.

TIGERS-RAYS ON OPENING DAY: The Tigers and Rays are facing each other on Opening Day for the third time. The two teams have split their previous two meetings in season openers with Detroit picking up an 11-6 win on March 31, 1998 and the Rays claiming a 9-5 victory on April 2, 2002.

MIGGY’S LAST SEASON: Miguel Cabrera will begin his 21st and final Major League season this afternoon. The future Hall of Famer announced at the end of 2022 that the 2023 season would be his last. Cabrera continued to make history last season, becoming the 33rd member of the 3,000 hit club on April 23 vs. Colorado, while he became the 18th player in MLB history to reach 600 doubles on May 7 at Houston. He is one of only three players in big league history with 3,000-or-more hits, 500-or-more home runs and 600-or-more doubles, joining Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols.

NOTES ON THE SEASON OPENING ROSTER:
Information about Detroit’s 26-man, season-opening roster:

The roster consists of 13 pitchers (Tyler Alexander, Matthew Boyd, José Cisnero, Mason Englert, Jason Foley, Garrett Hill, Alex Lange, Matt Manning, Eduardo Rodriguez, Chasen Shreve, Spencer Turnbull, Joey Wentz, Trey Wingenter and 13 position players (Javier Báez, Miguel Cabrera, Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Eric Haase, Ryan Kreidler, Nick Maton, Zach McKinstry, Austin Meadows, Jake Rogers, Jonathan Schoop, Spencer Torkelson, Matt Vierling)
8 are on an Opening Day roster at the Major League level for the first time (Carpenter, Englert, Greene, Hill, Kreidler, Maton, Rogers, Wentz)
9 were not active with the team in 2022 (Boyd, Englert, Maton, McKinstry, Rogers, Shreve, Turnbull, Vierling, Wingenter)
15 have less than three years of Major League service (Carpenter, Englert, Foley, Greene, Haase, Hill, Kreidler, Lange, Manning, Maton, McKinstry, Rogers, Torkelson, Vierling, Wentz
6 have five-or-more years of Major League service (Báez, Boyd, Cabrera, Cisnero, Rodriguez, Schoop
4 have been selected All-Stars (Báez, Cabrera, Meadows, Schoop)

SPRING TRAINING RECAP: The Tigers finished their Grapefruit League schedule with a 14-16-2 record. Detroit finished the spring with 46 home runs, which ranked second in the Grapefruit League (Philadelphia, 51). The Tigers were also second with 179 runs scored (Atlanta, 180). Individually, Nick Maton ranked tied for second in the Grapefruit League with five home runs and tied for fourth with 12 runs scored, while Riley Greene ranked tied for third in the Grapefruit League with 14 RBI.

TIGERS AND RAYS: The Tigers and Rays begin their six-game season series this afternoon. The two teams will also play a three-game series at Comerica Park from August 4-6. Tampa Bay won five of the seven meetings from Detroit last season, including two of the three games at Tropicana Field. The all-time series has been evenly contested with the Rays holding an 85-84 edge.

TIGERS ON THE IL:
• RHP Beau Brieske (right upper arm discomfort, 15-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)

• RHP Michael Lorenzen (left groin strain, 15-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)

• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)

• INF Tyler Nevin (left oblique strain, 10-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)

• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)

• LHP Tarik Skubal (left elbow strain, 60-day IL on March 14)

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER

Eduardo Rodriguez • 0-0, 0.00 ERA (0IP/0ER)
• Rodriguez will make his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Tigers this afternoon against the Rays…made his first career Opening Day start last season against the White Sox, throwing 4.0 innings and allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

• Had a strong Spring Training, making five starts and posting a 1-0 record with a 1.47 ERA (18.1IP/3ER) and 21 strikeouts.

• Has faced the Rays 14 times in his career, posting a 2-5 record with a 5.59 ERA (67.2IP/42ER) and 80 strikeouts…in eight career starts at Tropicana Field, he has a 2-3 record with a 4.93 ERA (38.1IP/21ER) and 47 strikeouts.

• Started 17 games for the Tigers last season and had a 5-5 record with a 4.05 ERA (91.0IP/41ER) and 72 strikeouts.

• Since 2018, he has a .676 winning percentage, which ranks seventh among all Major League pitchers over that span (min. 100 starts).

TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:

FIRST THINGS FIRST—The Rays are 13-12 on Opening Day, winning two straight and four of the last six…Tampa Bay is 1-1 against Detroit on Opening Day, including a 9-5 win on 4/2/02 and an 11-6 loss in the club’s inaugural game on 3/31/98.

VS. DETROIT—Last season, Tampa Bay went 5-2 vs. Detroit, its most victories over the Tigers since 2017 (5-2)…the Rays are 12-4 at home against the Tigers since the beginning of the 2017 season, outscoring Detroit 77-45 over that stretch.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS—Since the beginning of the 2017 season, the Rays are 264-170 (.604) in home games, the fourth-best home winning percentage in the majors, trailing only Los Angeles-NL (297-139, .681), New York-AL (286-150, .656) and Houston (280-153, .647).

PITCHERS PARADISE — The 2022 Rays pitched to a 3.41 ERA, fourth in the majors behind Los Angeles-NL (2.80), Houston (2.90) and New York-AL (3.30), and second in club history behind the 2012 Rays (3.19)…Tampa Bay finished among the majors’ top 10 in ERA for a sixth-straight season and among the majors’ top five for a fourth-straight season.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS — Tampa Bay has reached the postseason in a franchise-best four straight seasons and in eight of the last 15 seasons since 2008…only four other clubs have reached the postseason as often since 2008: Los Angeles-NL (12), New York-NL (11), St. Louis (10) and Atlanta (8)…the Rays are one of three AL teams (Astros, Yankees) and one of six in the majors (Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers) to make the postseason in each of the last four seasons (2019-22).

REBRANDING — Since becoming the Rays in 2008, the club owns the fourth-best record in baseball at 1,267-1,062 (.544), including two World Series appearances (2020, 2008)… this success comes after the Devil Rays amassed the majors’ worst record at 645-972 (.399) over the club’s first decade of existence (1998-2007).

DOWN ON THE FARM — The Rays enter 2023 ranked by Baseball America as having the No. 6 farm system in the league…they have six players ranked among the league’s Top 100 prospects, including RHP Shane Baz (No. 31), INF Curtis Mead (No. 35), RHP Taj Bradley (No. 44), INF Carson Williams (No. 52), INF Kyle Manzardo (No. 60) and INF Jonathan Aranda (No. 96).

MANAGER — Kevin Cash enters his ninth season as the manager of the Rays…his career 640-554 (.536) record is the best winning percentage of any manager in club history… he is 114 wins shy of matching Joe Madden for the most managerial wins in franchise history…Cash is the second-longest-tenured manager with his current team behind Cleveland’s Terry Francona (11th season)…three other current managers are former members of his coaching staff: Rocco Baldelli (Twins), Derek Shelton (Pirates) and Matt Quatraro (Royals).

COACHES — Assistant hitting coach Dan DeMent (2nd season), process and analytics coach Jonathan Erlichman (5th season), assistant pitching and rehab coach Rick Knapp (2nd season), bench coach Rodney Linares (5th season, 1st as bench coach), hitting coach Chad Mottola (7th season), assistant hitting coach Brady North (2nd season), first base coach Chris Prieto (2nd season) and pitching coach Kyle Snyder (6th season).
¬ Major league field coordinator Tomas Francisco enters his first year following four seasons as Tampa Bay’s minor league catching coordinator.

¬ Bullpen coach Jorge Moncada enters his first year following seven seasons as a minor league pitching coordinator in the Rays system.

¬ Third base coach Brady Williams enters his first year following three seasons managing Triple-A Durham.

LOWE’S HOME RUNS FOR HOPE—For every home run Rays infielder Brandon Lowe hits, he and his wife, Madison, will donate $250 to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. The Rays Baseball Foundation will also match $250 per home run in support of Lowe’s “Home Runs for Hope” campaign. The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay provides a range of services to ensure that no one in the community has to face a crisis alone. It is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year as the community gateway to help. People who are struggling with a variety of crisis situations including sexual assault or abuse, domestic violence, financial distress, substance abuse, medical emergency, suicidal thoughts and other emotional or situational problems can connect to hope and healing.

THE BIG GAME JAMES CLUB — Prior to this afternoon’s home opener, former Rays pitcher James Shields will symbolically retire as a Ray and throw out the Ceremonial First Pitch…in 2010, James and his wife, Ryane, along with the Rays, donated a suite to begin a special club for foster kids called the “Big Game James Club”…following Shields’ trade from the Rays in 2013, the suite was renamed the “Home Run Club” and the team is going to return the club to its original name “The Big Game James Club” moving forward.

TODAY’S STARTER: LHP SHANE McCLANAHAN (0-0, -.–)

ADVANCED TALK — Last season, McClanahan’s 0.93 WHIP ranked second in the AL and was the lowest in franchise history, passing Blake Snell (0.97) in his 2018 Cy Young season…he totaled 146 strikeouts on offspeed and breaking pitches, third in the majors behind Los AngelesAL’s Shohei Ohtani (175) and Chicago-AL’s Dylan Cease (169)…his average fastball velocity was 96.7 mph, eighth in the majors and first among lefties (min. 1,500 pitches)…McClanahan’s 34.3 whiff percentage ranked second in MLB last year, trailing only Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes (35.2%).

SPRING TRAINING RECAP—Enjoyed a strong spring, going 1-0 with a 0.93 ERA (9.2IP, 1ER) across three Grapefruit League starts…fanned six batters in his final spring tune-up on 3/18 vs. Boston (5.0IP, 2H, ER, 2BB, 6SO).

OPENING DAY START—McClanahan was named the club’s Opening Day starter by manager Kevin Cash on 3/24…McClanahan is the first Rays pitcher to make consecutive Opening Day starts since Chris Archer made four straight from 2015-2018 and is the sixth to do so in club history (also: David Price, 2013-2014; James Shields, 2008-2010; Scott Kazmir, 2006-2007; and Wilson Álvarez, 1998-1999).

VS. TIGERS—In three career starts vs. Detroit, he is 1-2 with a 2.95 ERA (18.1IP, 6ER), striking out 17 batters against two walks while holding opponents to a .185 average (12-for-65)…in two starts against the Tigers last season, he went 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA (13.1IP, 5ER)…in his last start at Detroit on 8/6, McClanahan took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts across 6.1 innings.

VS. AL CENTRAL—McClanahan is 4-5 with a 3.54 ERA (56IP, 22ER) in 10 career starts against AL Central opponents…in six starts last season, he went 2-3 with a 4.29 ERA (35.2IP, 17ER), striking out 41 batters against eight walks while holding opponents to a .216 average (29-for-134)…he matched a career high with 11 strikeouts on 4/30 vs. Minnesota, taking the loss after allowing three runs on four hits and two walks over 5.0 innings.

HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR—In 2022, McClanahan became the second pitcher in club history to start an All-Star Game, following David Price in 2010…McClanahan became the ninth Rays starting pitcher to make an All-Star Team, joining Charlie Morton (2019), Blake Snell (2018), Chris Archer (2015, 2017), David Price (2010-12, 2014), Matt Moore (2013), James Shields (2011), Scott Kazmir (2006, 2008) and Rolando Arrojo (1998).

TALE OF TWO HALVES—In 18 starts prior to the 2022 All-Star break, McClanahan went 10-3, pitching to a 1.71 ERA (110.2IP, 21ER) with 147 strikeouts against 19 walks while holding opponents to a .176 average (69-for-391)…in 10 starts following the All-Star break, he went 2-5 with a 4.20 ERA (55.2IP, 26ER) and 47 strikeouts against 19 walks.

STRIKEOUT ARTIST—Last season, McClanahan struck out seven or more batters in a franchise-best 11 consecutive starts from 5/11-7/8, going 7-1
with 1.13 ERA (72IP, 9ER) and 94 strikeouts…he surpassed Tyler Glasnow, who had two such streaks of eight starts (4/6-5/14, 2021 and 8/13-9/23, 2020)…his 194 strikeouts in 2022 tied for seventh in the AL and were the most by a Ray since Charlie Morton (240) in 2019.

MODEL OF CONSISTENCY—From 6/9-7/13, 2022, McClanahan made seven straight starts in which he threw 6+ innings, had 6+ strikeouts and allowed one earned run or fewer…the streak tied Minnesota’s Johan Santana in 2004 for the longest in AL history and was one shy of Los Angeles-NL Sandy Koufax (6/13–7/12, 1962) for the longest streak in the majors since Baseball Reference data is available (1901).

CHANGING IT UP—McClanahan threw his changeup on 25.4 percent of his pitches last year, compared to 8.0 percent in 2021…opponents hit just .145 (24-for-166) and produced only four extra-base hits (3 2B, 1 HR) against the offering…he posted a 44.6 whiff pct. on the changeup, while 61 of his 194 strikeouts (31.4 percent) came on the pitch.

MLB Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (0-0) at Texas Rangers (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (0-0) at Texas Rangers (0-0)

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL: Today, the Phillies will take the field and embark on their 141st season (since 1883), enduring as the oldest, continuous, one-nickname, one-city franchise in all professional sports … This marks the first time the Phillies have opened on the road since 2018 (at ATL) after hosting four straight openers at CBP from 2019-22 … All time, the Phillies are 63-75-2 on Opening Day.

FLAGS FLY FOREVER: The Phillies were National League champions in 2022 for the eighth time in franchise history (1915, 1950, 1980, 1983, 1993, 2008, 2009, 2022) … The road to the pennant began with a two-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Series at Busch Stadium, followed by a three-gamesto-one Division Series win over the Atlanta Braves and a victory over the San Diego Padres in the NLCS, four games to one, clinching the series with three straight wins at Citizens Bank Park … In the Fall Classic, the Phillies fell to the Houston Astros in six games; it was only the second postseason meeting between the two clubs, the first being the 1980 NLCS …On May 31, the Phillies were eight games under .500 at 21-29 with a .420 winning percentage that ranked 11th in the National League and 22nd in MLB … Starting June 1, the Phillies went 66-46, 20 games over .500 with a .589 winning percentage that ranked 4th in the NL and 7th in baseball … The Phillies clinched their first postseason berth since 2011 with a 3-0 win against the Astros on Oct. 3 … The Phillies became only the fifth team in MLB history to start 21-29 or worse through their first 50 games and then make the World Series, joining the 2019 Washington Nationals (19-31 start), 2005 Houston Astros (18-32 start), 2003 Florida Marlins (21-29) and 1914 Boston Braves (20-30).

GO NOLES: Today, Phillies RHP Aaron Nola is scheduled to make his sixth career (also consecutive) Opening Day start … Nola will join Hall-of-Famers Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) as the only pitchers ever to make six straight Opening Day starts for the Phillies … Nola will also tie Chris Short for 3rd place in franchise history with six Opening Day starts trailing only Carlton (14) and Roberts (12) … All time on Opening Day, Nola is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA … Nola enters today’s game in the top 10 in franchise history in double-digit strikeout games (4th with 27 – Cole Hamels ranks 3rd with 29), strikeouts (7th at 1,380 – HOF Grover Cleveland Alexander ranks 6th at 1,409), games started (10th at 203 – HOF Jim Bunning ranks 9th at 208) and ERA (10th at 3.60).

NOLA vs deGROM IV: Today, Phillies RHP Aaron Nola and Rangers RHP Jacob deGrom will face off for the fourth time in their respective careers … They have previously met three times: 8/13/22 at NYM, 9/6/20 at NYM and 5/13/18 vs NYM … In three previous starts against deGrom, Nola has posted a 2.33 ERA (5 ER, 19.1 IP) with 22 strikeouts to 4 walks (27.8% SO rate, 5.1 % BB rate) … In their most recent matchup, 8/13/22 at Citi Field, Nola went 8.0 innings and allowed only 1 ER with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk in a 1-0 Phillies loss (deGrom went 6.0 scoreless).

HEART OF THE PHILS: Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins is scheduled to undergo left ACL reconstruction surgery today in Forth Worth, TX … The procedure will be performed by Dr. Steve Singleton … In 12 games this spring, Hoskins slashed .375/.487/.813 with a 1.300 OPS in 39 plate appearances and went 12-for-32 at the plate with 7 runs, 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 10 RBI and 5 walks … Last season, in Game 3 of the NLDS vs ATL on 10/14, he hit his first career postseason HR, a 3-run shot in the third inning (Spencer Strider); it came on the first pitch following an intentional walk to Kyle Schwarber … Additionally, he homered four times in four postseason games from 10/19-23 and joined Jayson Werth (10/21-31/09) as the only players in franchise history to hit four HR in any four-game span during the postseason … He hit four HR in the NLCS against SD, setting a new franchise record for most HR ever in an NLCS … For his career, Hoskins owns a 125 wRC+, per FanGraphs … There have been 2,155 players to ever appear in a game for the Phillies over 140 seasons … Of those 2,155, only 70 have accumulated at least 2,5000 plate appearances in a Phillies uniform … Of those 70, Hoskins ranks T-13th in franchise history in wRC+ (with Scott Rolen), and among Phillies first baseman, he ranks 3rd in franchise history behind only Dick Allen (152) and John Kruk (138).

NEW TONIGHT, AT (THE) 6: On December 8, 2022, the Phillies signed All-Star shortstop Trea Turner to an 11-year contract, taking him through the 2033 season … Last year with the Dodgers, Turner was selected as an All-Star for the second time in his career, was named All-MLB First Team and won his first career Louisville Silver Slugger Award after slashing .298/.343/.466 with a 121 OPS+ and 27 steals in 30 attempts … Per Statcast data, his average sprint speed of 30.3 feet per second ranked 5th out of 582 qualified players … In 2021, Turner led the majors in AVG (.328) and hits (195), led the NL in stolen bases (32) and total bases (319) and posted a career-best 6.8 fWAR (FanGraphs) which ranked 3rd among all ML position players … Since 2018, Turner has accrued a ML-best 24.9 fWAR among position players (teammate J.T. Realmuto ranks 4th at 23.0) … In 2019 with Washington, he reached base safely in 15 of 17 postseason games and won his first World Series championship.

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS: The Phils enter play today having lost each of their last nine games against the Texas Rangers (since 4/1/14) … Prior to this current skid, the Phillies won seven of the first 10 matchups against Texas from 6/7/05-3/31/14 … The last time the Phillies handed the Rangers a loss came on Opening Day, March 31, 2014 at Globe Life Park in Arlington, a 14-10 barnburner … In that game, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit 2-through-4 in the lineup and Cliff Lee started and got the win for the Phillies.

TOLLS OF BRILLIANCE: Catcher J.T. Realmuto was named All-MLB First Team last season, took home his third Silver Slugger Award and second Gold Glove Award and finished 7th in NL MVP voting … Additionally, he finished with 6.5 fWAR, 3rd in MLB history for a catcher aged 31 or older, led MLB with 1281.2 innings at catcher (regular and postseason combined) which was 240.0 innings more than HOU’s Martin Maldonado who ranked 2nd at 1041.2, and finally, became only the second catcher in MLB history with 20 HR and 20 SB, joining Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez (1999).

TRADE WINDS: Yesterday, the Phillies acquired center fielder Cristian Pache from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for RHP Billy Sullivan … Pache, 24, was tied for fifth among American League center fielders with five defensive runs saved in 2022, trailing only Michael A. Taylor (19), Myles Straw (17), Byron Buxton (8) and Jose Siri (6) … He played in 90 games (70 starts) for Oakland last season, all in center field, posting a .995 fielding percentage … Per Statcast, Pache ranked in the 94th percentile among all center fielders in Outs Above Average (7) and the 92nd percentile in average arm strength (92.3 mph) … Pache, a native of the Dominican Republic, has appeared in 115 major league games for the Atlanta Braves (2020-21) and Athletics (2022) and has played center field in all but two of them … He was signed by Atlanta as an amateur free agent in 2015 and appeared on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list in each year from 2019-22, ranking as high as No. 7 prior to the 2021 season.

SPRING RECAP: The Phillies finished Grapefruit League play with a 16-15-1 record (.516 win %) which included a 10-6 record in 16 games at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater … The Phillies sold out eight of their 18 games in Clearwater this spring which included a crowd of 10,933 on 3/25 vs NYY which was the 8thlargest crowd in ballpark history.

LET THE GOOD VIBES ROLL: This spring, the Phillies hit 51 home runs in 32 Grapefruit League games which led all teams in MLB during the spring (next: DET, 46) … As a club, the Phils combined to slash .255/.339/.459 with a .798 OPS that ranked 5th among all MLB clubs during the spring and 3rd in the Grapefruit League.

TODAY’S STARTER
AARON NOLA • RHP #27

TODAY’S START:
• Mark the Calendar: Nola is taking the hill for his 6th straight Opening Day, extending his MLB-best active streak of Opening Day starts … He is the first pitcher in baseball to make 6 straight Opening Day starts since Julio Teheran in made his 6th consecutive for ATL in 2019, and joins Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) as the only Phillies to do so

• Starting off Right: In his eight season debuts, Nola has combined to post a 3.17 ERA (17 ER, 48.1 IP) and has struck out 52 batters … The Phillies have won 3 of his last 4 Opening Day starts

• To the Nines: Nola is embarking on his 9th season as a Phillie, becoming the 7th pitcher in franchise history to make a start in 9 straight seasons for the club, and joining Cole Hamels (10) as the only Phillies draft picks to do since Larry Christensen made starts for his 9th straight year with the team in 1981

• Top of the Class: Since 2018, Nola leads all ML pitchers in starts (143) & IP (871.2), is 3rd in SO (1007), trailing only Gerrit Cole (1196) and Max Scherzer (1044) and 5th in fWAR (21.6), behind Jacob deGrom (25.6), Scherzer (25.5), Cole (23.2) and Zack Wheeler (22.1)

• Climbing the Ladder: Nola enters the 2023 season with the following all-time Phillies rankings (min. 1,000 IP for rate stats): 1st in SO/BB (4.23), SO % (27.5) & SO/9.0 IP (10.11), 4th in WHIP (1.13) & 10+ SO games (27), 7th in SO (1,380), 8th in bWAR (29.9), 9th in fWAR (29.9), 10th in starts (203) and 11th in quality starts (113, since ER became official in 1912) … Following his start today, he will need 4 more to tie HOFer Jim Bunning for 9th on the Phillies all-time list

• Lone Ranger: With is first career start against TEX, Nola is now only yet to face CLE among all other teams aside from PHI … Nola is facing deGrom for just the 4th time in his career (last: 8/13/22), despite them pitching in the same division from 2015-22

• Total Body of Work: Nola is coming off a 2022 season in which he made 37 starts, posted a 3.43 ERA (88 ER, 230.2 IP), struck out 262, walked 34 and posted a 1.00 WHIP in the regular and postseason combined

ROAD:
• 2022: 5-9, 3.00 ERA (36 ER, 108.0 IP) in 16 starts

• Career: 34-38, 4.05 ERA (270 ER, 600.2 IP) in 102 starts

2022 SEASON:
• ML Rankings: 1st in fWAR (6.3) & SO/BB (8.10), T-1st in SHO (1), 2nd in IP (205.0), BB % (3.6) & BB/9.0 IP (1.27), T-3rd in CG (2), 4th in SO (235), T-5th in starts (32), 6th in bWAR (4.0), 7th in WHIP (0.96), SO % (29.1) & OPP OBP (.256) and 9th in SO/9.0 IP (10.32)

• Struck out a career-best 235 batters and issued just 29 walks, joining Jim Whitney (1884 Boston Beaneaters) as the only pitchers ever with 220 or more SO and fewer than 30 BB in a season

• Named All-MLB Second Team, his first career All-MLB selection

• Led all pitchers with 6.3 fWAR, becoming the first Phillie to lead all pitchers in fWAR since Roy Halladay in 2011

• His 8.10 SO/BB was the best ever by a qualifying Phillies pitcher and the 18th-best in ML history

• Surpassed 220 SO for the fourth straight fully-scheduled season (2018-19, 2021-22)

• Surpassed 200.0 IP for the third time (others: 2018-19) and made 30 or more starts for the fourth straight fully-scheduled season

• Made his 200th career start on 9/17 at ATL, making him the seventh Phillie to have his first 200 career starts with the club and just the 10th with 200 at any point

• Retired the first 20 batters he faced (6.2 IP) in the postseason clincher on 10/3 at HOU, the longest perfect game bid of his career

2022 POSTSEASON:
• His 203 starts before a postseason start were most ever by a Phillie whose whole career was spent with the team and 2nd-most among all active pitchers (Jordan Lyles, 214)

• His 11.2-inning scoreless streak to begin his playoff career was the longest ever by a Phillie

• Became one of seven Phillies pitchers to start Game 1 of a World Series and joined Cole Hamels as the only Phillies 1st-round picks to do so

• Joined Zack Wheeler, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee as the only Phillies to make at least five starts in a single postseason

CAREER:
• His 10.11 SO/9.0 IP (1380 SO, 1,228.1 IP) is 10th-best all-time (min. 1,000 IP)

• Finished 3rd in 2018 NL CY Young Award Voting and made his first career All-Star team

TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:

THE OPENER: The Rangers open their 52nd season since moving to Texas against the Philadelphia Phillies today at Globe Life Field…this will be the 6th time in the last 8 years for TEX to play its season opener in Arlington (also 2015-20)…club played back-to-back season openers on the road in 2021 (4/1/21 at KC) and 2022 (4/8/22 at TOR) for the 1st time since 2007-08.

• Texas is 23-28 overall on Opening Day, losing 2 straight, 5 of last 6 (1-0 win on 7/24/20 vs. COL in 1st-ever game at Globe Life Field) and 8 of the last 10 years…club won 4 in a row from 2009-12, but has dropped 13 of 19, 15 of 22, and 17 of the last 25 openers overall.

• Rangers are 17-12 all-time in season-opening games that take place in Arlington, snapping a 3-G losing skid in such games with a 1-0 win in last instance on 7/24/20 vs. COL.

• This will be the 4th time the Rangers have played an Interleague game on Opening Day, all of which have come in Arlington: 3/31/14 vs. PHI (14-10 loss), 3/28/19 vs. CHC (12-4 loss), and 7/24/20 vs. COL (1-0 win)… this will be the 3rd straight season-opener in Arlington to come against a N.L. club.

FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME: Today will be just the 2nd-ever Rangers season opener to take place at Globe Life Field (also a 1-0 win on 7/24/20 vs. COL in the park’s debut), and it will be the 1st-ever Texas season opener at this facility with fans in attendance…the Rangers’ last season-opening game at home – with fans in the stands – came on 3/28/19 vs. CHC, which began the club’s final season at Globe Life Park in Arlington.

BACK IN TIME: Today marks the Rangers’ 1st game with the new pitch timer that was utilized throughout 2023 MLB Spring Training and in the minor leagues in various forms over the past several seasons…of the Rangers’ 31 Spring Training games in ‘23 (all utilizing the clock), only 4 lasted 3-hours-or-longer…in 2022, 11 of club’s 18 Cactus League contests lasted 3+ hours.

• Texas 9-inning games averaged 3 hours, 1 minute, and 7 seconds in 2022 (3:01:07), a drop of over a full minute from 2021 (3:02:17), and the 2nd-shortest figure in at least the past 6 seasons…TEX 9-inning games have averaged over 3 hours in at least 6 straight years: 2022-3:01:07, 2021-3:02:17, 2020-3:03:14, 2019-3:07:01, 2018-3:00:53, 2017-3:10:24.

DEBUT OF deGROM: Jacob deGrom was announced as the Rangers’ Opening Day starter on Friday…today will be his 4th career Opening Day start, as he had the honors for the Mets in 3 straight seasons on 3/28/19 at WAS (6.0 SHO IP), 7/24/20 vs. ATL (5.0 SHO IP), and 4/5/21 at PHI (6.0 SHO IP)…deGrom overall in his 3 O.D. starts: 17.0 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 25 SO…opposing batters are a combined 9-for-57 (.158) with 2 XBH (both doubles) in those 3 outings.

• DeGrom will be just the 3rd Texas pitcher to start on Opening Day for the club after having previously won a Cy Young Award…he will be the first Opening Day starter in Rangers history to take the mound for Texas after having previously won multiple Cy Young Awards…the previous 2 Rangers to start an opener after winning a CYA:

Fergie Jenkins (1971 N.L. Cy Young with CHC), started Opening Day for Texas on 4/8/75 vs. MIN and 4/7/79 at DET.
Gaylord Perry (1972 A.L. Cy Young with CLE; also 1978 N.L. Cy Young with SD), started Opening Day for Texas on 4/9/76 vs. MIN.

• According to Elias Sports Bureau, deGrom is one of four pitchers in MLB history to not allow a run in each of his first 3-or-more Opening Day starts:

MOST CONSECUTIVE SCORELESS OPENING DAY STARTS
TO BEGIN A CAREER, MLB HISTORY (credit Elias Sports Bureau)
No. Pitcher Team Years
4 Rick Mahler ATL 1982/1985/1986/1987
3 Rip Sewell PIT 1943/1947/1949
3 Clayton Kershaw LAD 2011/2012/2013
3 Jacob deGrom NYM 2019/2020/2021

FIRSTS FOR BOCHY: Today marks Bruce Bochy’s first game as Rangers Manager, his 1st game as a MLB skipper since his final contest with the Giants on 9/29/19 vs. LAD…this will be the 1st time he has managed an American League team in his career…he will be the first manager in MLB history to manage over 4000 games in one league (4032 w/ SD and SF) before managing a single game in the other league…Bochy has 2003 career wins as a manager, 12th-most in Major League history, and he needs just 38 more wins to crack the top 10 in that category…he will be the 1st manager in Rangers history to have previously won a World Series title as manager with another club.

THE ROSTER: The Rangers formally announced the club’s season-opening 26-man roster this morning…club is returning 12 players from last year’s 28-man roster to begin 2022, one more returnee than 2021-22 (11)…the returnees from 2022: Brock Burke, Dane Dunning, Adolis García, Mitch Garver, Jon Gray, Taylor Hearn, Jonah Heim, Nathaniel Lowe, Brad Miller, Martín Pérez, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien…just 4 players are on the O.D. roster for a 3rd straight year: Dunning, Hearn, Heim, and Lowe.

• There are 5 players on an Opening Day roster for the 1st time: Ezequiel Duran, Josh Jung, Cole Ragans, Josh Smith, and Bubba Thompson… none of those 5 are seeking their ML debut…total of 6 Rangers are seeking their Texas debuts: Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Robbie Grossman, Andrew Heaney, Travis Jankowski, and Will Smith.

THE HOME OPENER: The Rangers open their 52nd season in Arlington this afternoon against the Phillies…Rangers are 25-26 all-time in home openers (12-10 at Arlington Stadium; 12-14 at Globe Life Park in Arlington; 1-2 at Globe Life Field)…TEX has dropped 2 straight, 5 of 6 and 7 of last 9 home openers…full home opener results are on page 6.

VS. PHILADELPHIA: Texas and Philly will meet for a 2nd straight season in ‘23, 1st time clubs have ever squared off in back-to-back years…the Rangers went 4-0 last year against the eventual N.L. champs and have won 9 straight vs. PHI beginning 4/1/14…the 9-G win streak is Rangers’ longest ever vs. an N.L. opponent (prev. 7-0 vs. STL, 6/21/13-5/17/19)… last year’s 4-0 finish vs. PHI marked just 3rd time in Washington/Texas franchise history (since 1961) to go 4-0 or better against one opponent in a season (12-0 vs. MIN in 1999), something the Rangers have never done versus a N.L. opponent…club was 12-0 vs. MIN in 1999, and went 6-0 vs. DET in 2019…TEX leads all-time, 12-7…Rangers are 9-2 vs. PHI in Arlington, winning 7 straight…prior to last year’s visit to GLF (6/21-22), Phillies had not been to Arlington since 5/16-18/17.

FACING A PENNANT-WINNER: This year marks just the 6th time the Rangers will ever play a league champion from the previous year in a season opener, 1st time to face the N.L. pennant-winner…the previous 5 opener instances (-indicates won the WS): 2018 vs. HOU, 2017 vs. CLE,
2003 at ANA, 1978 vs. NYY, 1974 vs. OAK*.

I’M OPEN: While the forecast remains uncertain today in Arlington, an effort will be made to play the game with the roof open at Globe Life Field… the roof was open for the Rangers’ workout yesterday afternoon after being closed for exhibition games here both Monday night and Tuesday afternoon…of the 33 regular season games all-time played at GLF with the roof open (6 in 2020, 11 in 2021, 16 in 2022), 14 have taken place prior to May 1 on the calendar…today (3/30) would be the earliest date for any open roof game at GLF (currently 4/5/21 vs. TOR)…this would be just the 9th day game in GLF history (reg. and postseason) to be played with the roof open, a list which includes the most recent contest at the park (season finale 10/5/22 vs. NYY).

RIGHT AT HOME: The top 2 HR hitters in Globe Life Field history are in the Rangers’ lineup today…Corey Seager is a career .290/.370/.590/.960 (106-366) hitter with 30 HR and 67 RBI over 95 games in the regular season (79) and postseason (16) at Globe Life Field…has 30 career HRat GLF (regular and postseason), 2nd-most in facility history (34-Adolis García)…has 23 HR in regular season at GLF (22 w/ TEX, 1 w/ LAD), also 2nd-most (34-García).

KIND OF A BIG DEAL: Each of the final 2 G of this series will air on national TV (FOX on Sat. and ESPN on Sun.)…Sunday’s contest will be the 1st-ever ESPN broadcast at Globe Life Field.

MISCELLANEOUS: LHP Will Smith has changed his uniform number to #51, effective for Opening Day…Mitch Garver and Brad Miller both hit HR in their Rangers debuts in club’s Opening Day game last year in Toronto… Adolis García also homered last year in his 1st career O.D. contest…Jacob deGrom will be just the 4th pitcher to ever make his Rangers debut by starting Opening Day in Arlington…the others:
Kevin Millwood on 4/3/06
vs. BOS (L, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R-ER), Ken Hill on 4/1/96 vs. BOS (W, 8.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R-ER), Jon Matlack on 4/8/78 vs. NYY (W, 9.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R-ER)…today marks Mike Maddux’s first game as Rangers pitching coach since 2015ALDS Game 5 on 10/14/15 at TOR, a 6-3 Texas defeat…Corey Seager in 7 career Opening Day games: .310/.382/.621/1.003 (9-29) w/ 2 HR, 3 2B, 7 RBI, and 4 BB

MLB Preview: New York Mets (0-0) at Miami Marlins (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: New York Mets (0-0) at Miami Marlins (0-0)

NEW YORK METS NOTES:

TODAY IS THE GREATEST: The Mets are set to open their 62nd season when they take on the Marlins today in Miami…In the history of Major League Baseball, the Mets (40-21, .656) have the best winning percentage on Opening Day…Research courtesy of Elias.

BEST RECORD ON OPENING DAY
TEAM RECORD WINNING PCT
New York Mets 40-21 .656
Seattle Mariners 28-18 .609
Baltimore Orioles 71-50 .587
New York Yankees 67-52 .563
Chicago Cubs 80-65 .552

OPENING DAY: After losing their first eight Opening Day contests, the Mets have won 40 of their last 53 Opening Day games (.755)…New York took nine straight openers from 1975-1983 to tie a major league record…The Mets have won 13 of their last 17 openers, including five of the last six.

WAY, AWAY FROM HERE: The Mets are 17-12 when starting the season on the road…Dating back to 2001, New York has won eight of its last 12 games when beginning the year on the road…This is the third straight year the Mets have opened the season on the road.

MAX OPENING: Scherzer today will toe the rubber for his first Opening Day start with the Mets and the seventh of his career…He started the opener in six of his seven seasons with Washington (2015-2016, 2018-2021) posting a record of 1-3 with a 2.72 ERA (12 ER/39.2 IP)…Scherzer twice started Opening Day against the Mets, opposing Bartolo Colon in 2015 and Jacob deGrom in 2019…He will be the first pitcher to start both for and against the Mets on Opening Day in his career… Elias notes that Madison Bumgarner (Arizona) is the only other active pitcher who has started a season opener for and against the same club.

THE CY YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: The Mets have faced the defending Cy Young Award winner on Opening Day twice before…Both instances involved Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton…The first time occurred on April 6, 1973 vs. Philadelphia and the second on April 5, 1983 vs. Philadelphia.

LAST FIVE INSTANCES BOTH OPENING DAY STARTERS WON A CY YOUNG
DATE TEAMS PITCHERS
April 7, 2022 CLE at KC Shane Bieber vs. Zack Greinke
March 28, 2019 HOU at TB Justin Verlander vs. Blake Snell
March 28, 2019 NYM at WAS Max Scherzer vs. Jacob deGrom
March 29, 2018 CLE at SEA Corey Kluber vs. Felix Hernandez
April 3, 2017 SEA at HOU Felix Hernandez vs. Dallas Keuchel

STARTING OFF WITH A BANG: The Mets have only had one player to record a leadoff home run on Opening Day…Kaz Matsui began the first game of the 2004 season with a home run off Russ Ortiz on April 6 in Atlanta.

GRAND SLAMS: Collin Cowgill and Todd Hundley are the only two Mets to hit a grand slam on Opening Day…Cowgill went deep on April 1, 2013 off San Diego’s Brad Brach…Hundley’s slam came on April 26, 1995 at Colorado off Billy Swift.

TWO HOME RUNS: Robin Ventura, Bobby Bonilla, Cleon Jones, Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds are the only five players in club history to hit two home runs in an Opening Day tilt…Ventura was the last to accomplish the feat on April 3, 2001 at Atlanta.

EXTRA, EXTRA ON OPENING DAY: The Mets have played seven extra-inning games on Opening Day…They are 5-2 in those contests…The last extra-inning affair was in 2014, a 9-7 loss to the Nationals…The last Mets Opening Day win in extras was a 6-4, 10-inning victory on April 3, 2001 at Atlanta.

A SHOW ABOUT NOTHING: The Mets have recorded 10 shutouts on Opening Day… Before 2021, the Mets won back-to-back Opening Days via shutout, a 2-0 win at Washington in 2019 and a 1-0 win against the Atlanta Braves in 2020…The Mets have been shut out only once (7-0, April 9, 1963 vs. St. Louis) on Opening Day… Research courtesy of Elias.

QUICK CHANGE: Tim Locastro has changed to uniform #26. IT WAS IN THE CARDS: The Mets were in the Postseason for the first time since 2016 and for the 10th time in franchise history…Last year marked the fourth Wild Card berth in team history…Also in 1999, 2000 and 2016.

MARLINS-METS NOTES: The Mets are opening the season in Miami for the first time since 2011…The Mets fell to the then Florida Marlins, 6-2, at Sun Life Stadium…This marks the fourth time that the Marlins and Mets will face each other on Opening Day…The Mets are 2-2 against the Fish on the first day of the season…The two teams played each other also in 2010, 2008 and 1999.
2023: 0-0 2022: 13-6 History: 268-231
@NY: 0-0 @NY: 6-4 @NY: 142-111
@MIA: 0-0 @MIA: 7-2 @MIA: 125-118
@PR: 1-2

WHEN I WAS 22: The Mets finished 2022 going 101-61 and finished in second place in the National League East…It was a 24-win improvement from the 2021 season… The Mets have recorded 100 wins in a season four times in franchise history: 1986 (108), 2022 (101), 1988 (100) and 1969 (100)…The team’s 101 wins were the second-most in franchise history…Only the 1986 team (108-54) finished with a better record.

THREE’S COMPANY: The 2022 Mets joined the 1972 club as the only teams in franchise history that never had more than a three-game losing streak…The last such National League team to not lose more than three-in-a-row prior to 2020 was the 2014 Dodgers (three games)…Courtesy of Elias.

THE BUCK STARTS HERE: Buck Showalter owns a 1,652-1,578 (.511) career record as a manager…His 1,652 wins place him 19th all-time in major league history…Showalter has now managed four teams to the Postseason…He is the fourth manager to accomplish that feat in major league history, joining Dusty Baker (five teams) and Billy Martin and Davey Johnson (four teams)…Showalter is the first manager in Mets history to record 100 victories in his first season with the club…He also joins Yogi Berra as the only managers to guide the Mets and Yankees into the playoffs.

JEFF McHITS: Jeff McNeil won the 2022 National League batting title, finishing atop the major leagues and the NL with a .326 batting average…José Reyes (.337 average in 2011) is the only other player in Mets history to be crowned an NL batting champion…McNeil is the first Mets player to lead the majors in average…His .326 batting average places him sixth on the franchise’s single-season list…It was the highest average by a Met since Reyes’ .337 mark in 2011.

HITTING THE ROAD: New York finished the 2022 season going 47-34 on the road… Their .580 road winning percentage placed them third in the majors and second in the NL…It was tied for the fourth-best road record in team history and the highest road-winning percentage since 2007…Overall, they hit .265/.334/.424 away from Citi Field…Their .265 road average was second in the majors and the best in the NL, while their .334 OBP led The Show…They ranked fourth in MLB and second in the Senior Circuit with a .424 SLG…Brandon Nimmo (.406), Jeff McNeil (.399) and Mark Canha (.378) ranked three through five in road OBP in the National League.

THE EAST IS A BEAST: The Mets went 50-26 against the NL East this year…Their .658 winning percentage against the NL East was the best mark in club history…They lost only three series in the division all season long (against Atlanta, August 15-18, Washington, September 2-4 and September 30-October 2 at Atlanta)…They won the season series vs. Philadelphia, Washington and Miami…Overall, the Mets posted a 3.38 ERA against the East, while hitting .262/.335/.425…The Mets outscored their divisional opponents, 380-272.

MORE MAX: In his age-37 season, Scherzer posted a 2.29 ERA with 173 strikeouts… Since the earned run became an official statistic in 1913, only three pitchers have posted an ERA that low with as many strikeouts at age 37 or older:
Roger Clemens
(1.87 ERA, 185 strikeouts at age 42 for the 2005 Astros) and Hall of Famer Dazzy Vance
(2.09 ERA, 200 strikeouts at age 37 for the 1928 Brooklyn Dodgers)…Justin Verlander
(1.75 ERA, 185 strikeouts at age 39) also accomplished this feat in 2022.

SMILE LIKE YOU MEAN IT: Francisco Lindor hit 26 home runs last season…That surpasses Asdrubal Cabrera’s 23 home runs in 2016 for the most by a Mets shortstop in a single season…He set the single-season record with most RBI by a Mets shortstop, recording 107 this season…He led major league shortstops in RBI, ranked third in walks (59), was third in home runs, tied for third in triples (five), fifth in OBP (.337) as well as OPS (.782) and ninth in SLG (.445)…Lindor led all shortstops in the majors, ranked seventh in MLB and fifth in the National League with a 6.8 fWAR.

ONLY A FEW CAN COM-PETE: Pete Alonso set a franchise single-season RBI record with 131 last year…His 131 RBI were tied for the major league lead and led the National League…Only once before in franchise history has a Met finished the season with the most or tied for the most RBI…Howard Johnson recorded a career-best 117 RBI in 1991 to lead the National League…He had 27 game-winning RBI season, the most since the stat was first tracked in 1974…His 35 go-ahead RBI were tied for the second-most in a single season in Mets history…Keith Hernandez had 36 go-ahead RBI in 1985.

Max Scherzer RHP #21
SCHERZER NEWS & NOTES
OPENING UP: Scherzer today will toe the rubber for his first Opening Day start with the Mets…He started the opener in six of his seven seasons with Washington (2015-2016, 2018-2021) posting a record of 1-3 and a 2.72 ERA (12 ER/39.2 IP)…Scherzer twice started Opening
Day against the Mets, opposing Bartolo Colon in 2015 and Jacob deGrom in 2019…He will be the first pitcher ever to start both for and against the Mets on Opening Day…Madison Bumgarner (Arizona) is the only other active pitcher who has started for and against the same team on Opening Day in his career.

SPRING FORWARD: Scherzer made four starts during Spring Training, going 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA (3 ER/17.2 IP)…In his final tuneup for the regular season, Scherzer tossed a quality start at Tropicana Field against the Rays…He pitched 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with 11 strikeouts and one walk…He threw 100 pitches in the outing.

VS. MIAMI: Scherzer did not pitch against Miami last season…His last start against the Marlins was on June 27, 2021 with Washington, a 5-1 victory…Scherzer has allowed one or no earned runs in eight of his last 10 starts against the Fish, recording a 2.06 ERA (15 ER/65.2 IP) in those 10 games…Owns a 15-5 record with a 2.94 ERA (55 ER/168.1 IP) in 26 career starts against Miami, including an 8-4 record and 2.54 ERA (25 ER/88.2 IP) against the Marlins on the road.

DOUBLE THE FUN: Scherzer ranks tied for third all-time with 110 double-digit strikeout games in his career, two more than Pedro Martinez…His next 10+ K game will break a tie with Roger Clemens, who also had 110 in his career…He’ll then need over 100 more to catch the top two: Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (212).

LEGENDARY: Scherzer and Justin Verlander swapped places on the all-time strikeouts leaderboard all season long in 2022…Now teammates in 2023, the pair are neck and neck, with just five punchouts separating the two…With 178 or more strikeouts this season, Scherzer can enter the top-10…Scherzer now ranks 13th all-time, having passed all-time greats Fergie Jenkins, Pedro Martinez, Bob Gibson, Curt Schilling, CC Sabathia and John Smoltz last season…See below for a chart of the No. 10-19 strikeout pitchers of all-time:

QUITE THE DEBUT: After signing a three-year deal with New York last offseason, Scherzer posted a 2.29 ERA (37 ER/145.1 IP) in his first season with the Mets…That is the lowest mark in a season in his career and the best all-time in a pitcher’s first season with the Mets (min. 140.0 innings)…His 0.91 WHIP was not just the best mark by a Met in his first season with the club, it was the best by any Met in club history (min. 140.0 innings)…Scherzer did not allow more than four runs in any of his 23 regular-season starts last season.

2022 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: Won his Mets debut on April 8 in Washington against his former team…Tossed 7.0 one-hit innings, allowing just one run while racking up 10 strikeouts in his Mets home debut vs. San Francisco on April 19…Threw 7.0 shutout frames, punched out 10 and allowed only two hits in his hometown at the Cardinals on April 25, setting the stage for New York’s five-run, ninth-inning comeback rally…Threw 6.0 scoreless innings and struck out a season-high 11 batters in his return from the IL on July 5 at Cincinnati…Blanked the Yankees over 7.0 innings on his 38th birthday, July 27, in a 3-2 Subway Series victory at Citi Field… Defeated Atlanta three times over an eight-start stretch (July 11, August 6 and August 17)… Earned his 200th career victory in the Mets’ playoff-clinching win at Milwaukee on September 19, throwing 6.0 perfect innings in his first start after a two-week stay on the IL.

ALWAYS IMPROVING: Scherzer set a career-best mark with a 2.29 ERA last season after posting what was then a career-best 2.46 ERA in 2021…No other pitcher since 1913 has thrown 130.0 or more innings and posted an ERA below 2.50 in both his age 36 and age 37 seasons…Only five pitchers have done that twice at any point after turning 36: Hoyt Wilhelm (three times – 1959, 1964-65), Eddie Plank (three times – 1915-17), Randy Johnson (2001-02), Dennis Martinez (1991-92) and Babe Adams (1919-20).

THE 7.0 LINE: Scherzer threw 7.0 innings eight times in 23 starts last season…Each time Scherzer completed 7.0 innings, he finished his outing with one or no runs allowed…Despite missing a total of nine weeks on the Injured List, those eight outings of 7.0+ innings while allowing one or no runs still tied for the fourth-most in the majors.

MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:

MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins today open the 2023 regular season with the first of four games against the Mets at loanDepot park. Miami will wrap up the opening homestand with a three-game set against the Twins, their first of 15 Interleague series in 2023. The club’s first road trip includes a three-game series against the Mets that starts on April 6, with a built-in off day on April 7, before heading to play the reigning National League-champion Phillies from April 10-12.

OPENING DAY
The Marlins are 12-18 on Opening Day in franchise history. Are opening the season at home for the 22nd time in franchise history, having gone 10-11 in the previous 21 such contests.

• Today marks Miami’s first match-up against the Mets on Opening Day since 2011 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium), the last opening day before the club moved to Miami. In four previous Opening Day match-ups between the teams, the Marlins have fared 2-2.

• The Marlins have gone 1-8 in Opening Day home games at loanDepot park. Are looking to snap a six-game losing streak in such contests dating back to their last Opening Day win at home in 2014 vs. Colorado.

FOURTH TIME’S THE CHARM
The 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner RHP Sandy Alcantara will toe the rubber today for Miami in his fourth consecutive Opening Day start. He becomes the first pitcher in Marlins history to make four consecutive Opening Day starts. Surpassed the previous mark of three, which he shared with Josh Beckett (2003-05) and Josh Johnson (2010-12). Alcantara is one of three pitchers in the Majors scheduled to make a fourth consecutive Opening Day start with the same team, joining Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (sixth) and Cleveland’s Shane Bieber (fourth).

• In 2022, Alcantara became the first pitcher in franchise history to win the National League Cy Young Award. He was unanimously selected the winner after leading MLB with 228.2 innings pitched and 6 complete games. Ranked fifth in ERA (2.28); among NL pitchers, ranked second in ERA, fourth in strikeouts (207), and sixth in WHIP (0.98) and opponents batting avg. (.212).

• Overall, during Sandy’s entire life (born Sept. 1995) only two pitchers have reached these marks since the 1996 season: Felix Hernandez, SEA (2010) and Pedro Martinez, MON (1997). Both of those pitchers won the Cy Young Awards in their league that year.

• His 14 wins were the most by a Marlins pitcher since Jose Ureña in 2017 (14 wins). Only Jose Fernandez, who won 16 games in 2016, recorded more wins since the team moved to Miami in 2012.

• Held opponents to 2 ER or less in 25 of 32 starts, tying the most such outings by a starter in club history, done by Kevin Brown in 1996
(250). Only two pitchers in MLB had more such starts, Jose Quintana (26 – PIT/STL) and Julio Urias (26 – LAD).

TEALING BACK TIME
The Marlins will teal back time with throwback Florida Marlins uniforms – same as the 1993 team in the organization’s inaugural season – for Friday home games this season (excluding June 2 – Lou Gehrig Day, and September 15 – Roberto Clemente Day). The throwback uniform will consist of the teal hats, featuring a 30th anniversary logo patch on the side, and the home white jerseys and pants with teal pinstripes.

• Every Marlins home Friday game will be themed Flashback Friday and feature special appearances from former players, coaches, and other fan favorites. Additional elements on Flashback Fridays include a Marlins Museum presented by Fanatics opening April 14, and special 30th Anniversary logo baseballs during Friday home games.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Marlins roster is re-shaped from last season, featuring six players who did not appear in with the organization last year.

• Offensively, Miami acquired infielder Luis Arraez from Minnesota. The reigning American League batting champion posted a .316 avg. (173×547) in 2022 and owns a .314 avg. in four career Major League seasons. The club also signed free-agent infielder Jean Segura to a two-year deal with a club option for a third year. Segura, a two-time All-Star and the 2016 NL hits leader, has averaged 6.7 AB/SO during his 11-year professional career, the third-best mark since 2012 among players with at least 1,300 games played. The newest addition to the Marlins lineup is two-time World Series champion and 2021 AL Batting Champion Yuli Gurriel, who hit 40 doubles last season for the World Series champion Houston Astros.

• Miami bolstered the starting rotation with the signing of free-agent pitcher Johnny Cueto. The 15-year veteran is a 2015 World Series champion and two-time All-Star, owning a career 143-107 record and 3.44 ERA in 355 appearances (353 starts). To add to the back end, the Marlins acquired right-handed reliever Matt Barnes from Boston, who posted a 1.59 ERA (22.2 IP/4 ER) with six saves in his final 24 appearances of 2022. Additionally, Miami acquired former first-round selection A.J. Puk from Oakland. The southpaw led the Athletics bullpen with 76 strikeouts last year in his first full season in the big leagues.

ACCOLADES
The Marlins’ Opening Day active roster features 13 All-Star appearances (10 players), four World Series Champions, two Batting Champions, one Stolen Base Champion, and one Cy Young Award winner.

500 CLUB
SS Joey Wendle currently sits at 490 career hits. Teammate Jean Segura owns 492 career RBI.
• 1B Yuli Gurriel begins the season with 94 career home runs, just six shty of the century mark.

NEW SKIP IN TOWN
Miami heads into the 2023 season with Skip Schumaker at the helm for his first managerial position after serving as St. Louis’s Bench Coach last season. Schumaker concluded his 11-year Major League career in 2015, appearing in a total of 1,149 games with the Cardinals (2005-12), Los Angeles Dodgers (2013), and Cincinnati Reds (2014-15). He is a two-time World Series champion (2006, 2011) as a member of the Cardinals.

CONSISTENCY MATTERS
The Marlins’ Opening Day lineup features 7 of 10 players who appeared in last year’s Opening Day lineup. Marks the first time since 2018-19 that the team had three or fewer differences in the Opening Day starting lineup form one year to the next.

TODAY’S STARTER
22 SANDY ALCANTARA
• Sandy Alcantara (Al-CON-ta-ra), 27, finished his historic 2022 season with 32 starts going 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 228.2 innings, along with 6 complete games, a 0.98 WHIP, and a .212 opponents’ batting average in 32 starts. He led Major League Baseball in innings pitched and complete games and led all NL pitchers with an 8.1 WAR (Baseball Reference). During Alcantara’s entire life (born Sept. 1995) only two pitchers reached the same statistical totals since the 1996 season: Felix Hernandez, SEA (2010) and Pedro Martinez, MON (1997).

• In November 16, 2022 – Sandy Alcantara was named unanimously the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner, becoming the first pitcher in Marlins’ franchise history to receive the honor.

• Won Baseball Digest’s MLB Pitcher of the Year Award. Became the second Marlin to win this honor (Dontrelle Willis, 2005). Was named the second annual Juan Marichal Award recipient, an honor given to the league’s best Dominican player.

• His 14 wins were the most by a Marlins pitcher since Jose Urena in 2017 (14-7). The last Marlin to have more wins was Jose Fernandez, who won 16 games in 2016.

• Became the first pitcher since Chris Sale in 2016 to throw 6 CG. Only three pitchers in club history have recorded more CGs in a season – Livan Hernandez (9, 1998), A.J. Burnett (7, 2002) and Dontrelle Willis (7, 2005).

• Posted a 1.64 ERA (121.0 IP/22 ER) in 16 starts at loanDepot park. Marked the best home ERA by a Marlins starter with at least 15 starts since Jose Fernandez in 2016 and is the fourth-lowest mark in club history (J. Fernandez, 1.19 – 2013; J. Johnson, 1.57, 2010; J. Fernandez,
1.63 – 2016).

MLB Preview: Toronto Blue Jays (0-0) at St. Louis Cardinals (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: Toronto Blue Jays (0-0) at St. Louis Cardinals (0-0)

TORONTO BLUE JAYS NOTES:

IT’S OPENING DAY!: The Blue Jays are beginning their 47th season of play in the American League…Have gone 24-22 on Opening Days so far, from 1977-2022. Toronto is coming off three straight wins to start a season: coming back from a 7-0 deficit to top Texas last year by a 10-8 final score, winning 3-2 in 10 innings in New York in 2021, and claiming a 6-4 victory in Tampa in 2020.

NEW BEGINNINGS: Today marks the 1st time in team history that Toronto will begin a season with a game against a National League opponent.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS: The Blue Jays have a new Manager at the helm to begin a campaign for the first time since Charlie Montoyo made his debut on March 29, 2019 vs. DET. John Schneider took over as Interim Manager on July 13, 2022…Finished the final 74 games of the regular season with a 46-28 record for a .622 winning percentage, the highest ever by a Toronto skipper in his 1st season at the helm (min. 10G)…Had the Interim tagged removed and was officially named the 14th Manager of the franchise on October 21, 2022.

MORE THAN YOUR AVERAGE TEAM: The Blue Jays led the Majors in 2022 with a .264 team batting average and 1,464 hits…Also led the AL in OBP (.329), SLG (.431), and OPS (.760) while ranked T-1st in extra-base hits (519), 2nd in runs (775), 2nd in doubles (307), and 3rd in home runs
(200)…Topped the AL in AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS for the 1st time in team history. Blue Jay batters combined for a hard hit (95+ MPH) percentage of 44.3, the top rate in MLB (2nd: ATL – 43.5) while their average exit velocity of 90.2 MPH was also highest in the Majors (2nd: ATL – 89.9).

ROSTER ROLLOUT: Toronto begins a campaign with a 26-man roster made up of 13 pitchers and 13 position players. Pitchers: RHP Anthony Bass, RHP Chris Bassitt, RHP José Berríos, RHP Adam Cimber, RHP Yimi García, RHP Kevin Gausman, LHP Yusei Kikuchi, RHP Alek Manoah, LHP Tim Mayza, RHP Zach Pop, RHP Trevor Richards, RHP Jordan Romano, RHP Erik Swanson Catchers: Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk Infielders: Brandon Belt, Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Matt Chapman, Santiago Espinal, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Whit Merrifield Outfielders: Kevin Kiermaier, Nathan Lukes, George Springer, Daulton Varsho Injured List: RHP Chad Green, LHP Hyun Jin Ryu, RHP Mitch White

LENGTHY ROAD WORK: The Blue Jays will start the season with 10 straight road contests as renovations wrap up at Rogers Centre…Ties the longest road trip to kick off a campaign in team history (10G in 1984)…Marks the 3rd trip of 10+ games to begin a season by any team in the last 20 years, joining the 2019 Red Sox (11G) and the 2022 Athletics (10G)…After these three games in St. Louis, will pop over to Kansas City for four contests and then wrap up the trip with three games in Anaheim. Toronto’s .556 road win% in 2022 (45-36) ranked 3rd in the AL and tied for 2nd best in team history (1st: .580 in 1993)…Blue Jays hitters led the AL in road runs (416), AVG (.266), OBP (.331), SLG (.428), and OPS (.759)…The pitching staff ranked 5th in the AL in road ERA (3.70), 5th in road WHIP (1.24), and 6th in road opponents’ batting average (.245).

CANADA’S TEAM:
Toronto starts a season with three Canadian-born players on its roster: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, QC), Zach Pop (Brampton, ON), and Jordan Romano (Markham, ON)…Marks the most Canadian-born players to make an Opening Day roster in team history.

THE TORONTO NEW JAYS:
The Blue Jays signed four free agents to their Major League roster over the offseason: Chris Bassitt, Brandon Belt, Chad Green, and Kevin Kiermaier… Daulton Varsho was acquired from the Diamondbacks in exchange for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno on Dec. 23.

AN ALEK-TRIC OPENER:
Alek Manoah gets the ball for today, his 1st career Opening Day start…At 25 years and 80 days old, is the 4th-youngest Opening Day starter in team history. The righty made his 1st All-Star team in 2022 and finished 3rd in AL Cy Young Voting…Finished 3rd among qualified AL pitchers in both ERA (2.24) and wins (16)…Also ranked 4th in innings pitched (196.2), 4th in WHIP (0.99), and 5th in opponents’ batting
average (.202)…Became the 6th AL pitcher since 1920 to turn in a sub-1.00 WHIP under age 25.

STARTING PITCHER
Alek Manoah, RHP #6
TODAY’S GAME:
Making his 1st career Opening Day start…Will be the 6th Blue Jay pitcher aged 25 or younger to make an Opening Day start, joining Marcus Stroman (2016), Drew Hutchison (2015), Todd Stottlemeyer (1990), Dave Stieb (1983), and Tom Underwood (1979). His career 1.01 WHIP is the 2nd lowest all-time by an AL pitcher in his first two big league seasons, trailing only Walter Johnson’s 0.98 mark in 1907- 1908 (min. 40 starts)…courtesy Stats Perform.

2022 HIGHLIGHTS:
Finished 3rd in AL Cy Young voting, behind only Houston’s Justin Verlander and Chicago’s Dylan Cease. Named an All-Star for the 1st time in his career…Pitched a scoreless 2nd inning in the Midsummer Classic, notching 3 punchouts and a hit batter on 18 pitches (13 strikes)…Joined Dave Stieb as the only pitchers in franchise history to strike out at least 3 batters in a single All-Star Game (Stieb – 4K in 1983). Ranked 3rd among qualified AL pitchers in both ERA (2.24) and wins (16)…Also ranked 4th in the AL in innings pitched (196.2), 4th in WHIP (0.99), and 5th in opponent batting average (.202)…Became the 6th AL pitcher since 1920 to turn in a sub-1.00 WHIP under age 25…His 0.99 WHIP was the best in team history (2nd: Roger Clemens – 1.03 in 1997) while his 2.24 ERA ranked 2nd (1st: Clemens – 2.05 in 1997). His 25 quality starts tied with Yu Darvish for 2nd most in the Majors, trailing only Framber Valdez’s 26. Held right-handed hitters to a .159 AVG, 2nd best in the AL (3rd in MLB). Won his 8th game of the year on 6/13 vs. BAL, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings while giving up a hit and a walk and 7 strikeouts…Became the 7th player in the modern era (since 1901) to win at least 17 of his first 20 career decisions as a starter (17-3), and the first since Vida Blue went 17-3 from 1969-1971. Picked up his 11th win on 7/23 at BOS, throwing 6.0 frames of one-run ball with 7 hits, no walks, and 7 strikeouts…Earned his 20th win in his 39th career game, becoming the 2nd-fastest in Blue Jays history to reach the mark (1st: Juan Guzman – 38 games). Earned his 15th win on 9/24 at TB…Tossed 7.0 shutout innings, scattering 4 hits and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts…His 303 strikeouts were the most in franchise history by a player in his first 50 career games (2nd: Juan Guzmán – 279). Made his 1st career postseason start in Game 1 of the ALWC vs. SEA on 10/7…Was the 7th Blue Jay pitcher under the age of 25 to make a postseason start, and the 1st since Aaron Sanchez in Game 4 of the 2016 ALCS vs. CLE (10/18/16)…Gave up 4ER on 4H and a walk over 5.2 IP.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:
In 2021, led MLB rookies (min. 10 starts) in WHIP (1.05), AVG (.192), and opponents’ OPS (.604), while 2nd in ERA, 3rd in K rate (27.7%) and 4th in SO/9 (10.24)…Became the 4th pitcher aged 23 or younger to average at least 10 strikeouts per nine innings in his debut season, joining Mark Prior (2002), Kerry Wood (1998) and Dwight Gooden (1984). Named AL Rookie of the Month for Sept./Oct. 2021, going 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 37.1 innings (six starts)…Was the the first Blue Jay to win the award since Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in July of 2018, and the first Toronto pitcher since Scott Richmond in April of 2009. Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1st round (11th overall) of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft.

VS. THE CARDINALS:
Facing the Cardinals for the 1st time in his career…Has made five career starts against National League opponents, keeping a 3-1 record and a 4.13 ERA (13 ER/28.1 IP) with eight walks and 23 strikeouts.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:

OpeningDaySTL: The defending National League Central Division Champion St. Louis Cardinals open their 132nd season of play in the NL today when they host Canada’s Toronto Blue Jays in the opening game of the regular season … St. Louis is 61-68-2 (.466 win pct.) overall on Opening Day, including a 37-32 (.536) mark at home.

BUSCH III OPENERS: Today marks only the Cardinals’ 8th Opening Day (3-4 at home) in 18 years since Busch Stadium III opened in 2006 … St. Louis has won its last three season openers (2017, 2020, 2022) at Busch after losing its first four (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011).

INTERLEAGUE OPENERS: Today is the first Opening Day (or home opener) in Cardinals franchise history against an American League opponent, as St. Louis enters 2023 season as one of 10 Major League teams to have not played an interleague opening game … St. Louis was scheduled to open their 2020 home slate by welcoming the Baltimore Orioles before the schedule was reset due to COVID-19. – Elias

O CANADA: The Cardinals were 2-3 all-time vs. the Montreal Expos on Opening Day (1-2 in St. Louis) … The last time St. Louis beat a Canadian team on Opening Day was 1990 at Busch Stadium II when Willie McGee ripped an walk-off RBI single off Mark Gardner to score Milt Thompson in the bottom of the 11th inning for a 6-5 victory to defeat Montreal.

HEIR JORDAN: At 20 years, 312 days old today, Jordan Walker is the youngest Cardinal to make his Major League debut since LHP Rick Ankiel (age
20.035 on Aug. 23, 1999) and the youngest position player since OF David Green (age 20.274 on Sept. 4, 1981) … Walker’s debut also marks only 8th time in franchise history a player age 20 or younger appeared on Opening Day for the Cardinals … The most recent was LHP Steve Carlton (age 20.111 on April 12, 1965) while SS Howard Freigau (age 20.259 on April 17, 1923) was the last recent position player to do so.

WINNING WAYS: 2022 was the Cardinals 15th consecutive winning season (2008-22), the 22nd in the last 23 years, and the 82nd in franchise history … The 15 consecutive winning seasons matches a franchise record established from 1939-53 when the Cardinals appeared in four World Series and won three (1942, 1944, 1946) … Only the Yankees (30 seasons) sport a longer active consecutive winning season streak in MLB … St. Louis has made the playoffs in 17 of the last 27 seasons (1996-2022) while winning 13 division titles, four NL pennants, and two World Series championships (2006, 2011).

FIRST FLIGHTS: Tyler O’Neill has homered in his last three Opening Days (2020-22), becoming the only Cardinal to homer in three straight Opening Days in MLB history … Only three other MLB players have homered in four consecutive Opening Days, all of which were catchers: Yogi Berra (1955-58 Yankees), Gary Carter (1977-80 Expos), and Todd Hundley (1994-97 Mets). – Elias

NEW TO THE FLOCK: For the first time in 19 seasons since 2004 Opening Day at Busch Stadium II, a catcher not named Yadier Molina will start at catcher for the Cardinals, as free agent All-Star catcher Willson Contreras makes his Cardinals debut today while wearing custom Molina tribute cleats with “RESPECT4” across the heel and side … Over the offseason, Contreras inked a five-year contract with a club option for the 2028 season … Taylor Motter and Jordan Walker join Contreras as three first-time Redbirds.

FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME: Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson are the only rookies on the Cardinals Opening Day roster, while today marks the first OD roster for Brendan Donovan, Zack Thompson and Packy Naughton … Returning Cardinals experiencing their first Busch Stadium Opening Day include 2022 mid-season acquisitions Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton … Joe McEwing enjoys his first Opener at Busch Stadium III and the first in the city of St. Louis since a being a player in 1999 at Busch II.

MARCHING AHEAD: With MLB starting the season on March 30 this year, the Cardinals bring an all-time mark of 4-6 in March games (2-1 at home) into today’s game … March 29, 2018 at the New York Mets is the earliest season opener in franchise history … 2011 was the only March home game at Busch III, a 5-3 loss to the Padres in 11 innings … 2020 Opening Day was March 26 at Cincinnati.

Miles Mikolas 39
TODAY’S GAME
• 2022 National League All-Star makes his 2nd career Opening Day start today and it’s his 1st Opening Day assignment at Busch Stadium. His previous Opening Day start came on April 2, 2018 at Milwaukee in an 8-4 defeat.

• Is facing the Toronto Blue Jays for just the 2nd time in his career. Took a ND in Cardinals 7-3 win on May 23, 2022 as Paul Goldschmidt hit 10th inning walk-off grand slam.

• Signed a two-year contract extension thru 2025 on March 24.

• Was a 3-0 with 0.00 ERA in three Grapefruit League starts this season, allowing just one unearned run in his 12.0 IP. 123 of his 133 pitches thrown this spring were strikes

• Pitched for Team USA during World Baseball Classic, totaling 6.0 IP in two relief appearances, including a 4.0 inning stint in the American’s semi-final win over Cuba.

• Had a 6-3 mark with 2.38 ERA (9th in MLB) in 14 starts at home last season, working 7.0+ IP in eight of those starts. Had 11 quality starts among his 14 at home last season, and the Cardinals were 10-3 in his home starts.

• Set a new career-high in innings pitched (202.1) in 2022, surpassing his previous high of 200.2 IP in 2018, his first year with St. Louis. He was one of five MLB pitchers with 200+ IP last year and one of eight pitchers with multiple seasons of 200+ IP since 2018.

• Although he missed all of the 2020 season, his 41-34 mark as a Cardinal is 2nd on the team to Adam Wainwright (49-36) in both wins & losses since 2018.

• St. Louis is 64-42 (.604 win pct.) in his 106 career outings (105 starts) since joining the organization in 2018.

• Is lifetime 20-16 with a 2.60 ERA (325.2 IP) at Busch Stadium. His 2.60 ERA ranks as the 3rd-lowest in Busch Stadium III history (minimum 200.0 innings) trailing only Shelby Miller (2.46) and Dakota Hudson (2.60).

• Has walked 111 batters over his first 105 starts with St. Louis. Among Cardinals starters in their first 105 starts with the franchise, only Bob Tewksbury (84) has issued fewer

• Was one of 10 MLB pitchers and two Cardinals (Wainwright) with a perfect 1.000 fielding pct. (31 total chances) in 2022. Hasn’t made an error since 8/2/18 vs. COL.

• Needs two strikeouts for 500 career in the National League.

• Started Game 2 of NL Wild Card Series last year, and suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Phillies

LAST TIME OUT
• Made his final Grapefruit League start last Friday, March 24 after signing a 2-year contract extension earlier that day. Blanked the Washington Nationals over his 7.0 IP in a 7-1 win at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
3/24 @WSH W 7-1 W-3 7.0 6 0 0 0 2 0 67-52

2022
NL Ranks: Innings Pitched (202.1, 3rd), Starts (32, T3rd), Quality Starts (22, 3rd), Complete Games (1, T3rd), WHIP (1.03, 10th), Batters faced (805, 3rd), Baserunners/9 IP (9.56, 10th), BB/9 IP (1.73, 5th), Strikeout/Walk Ratio (3.92, 11th), Pitches Thrown (3,152, 3rd), Pitches/Game (95.5, 7th), Pitch Tempo (14.9 sec/pitch – bases empty, 20th)

• Selected to 2nd NL All-Star team (also 2018) as replacement for Corbin Burnes (DNP).

• Made a 3.0-inning relief appearance in his final regular-season outing on 10/3 at PIT, his first relief outing since July 31, 2013 vs. CIN w/SD; a span of 115 starts.

• Carried a no-hitter 8.2 innings into the game vs. PIT (6/14-Game 2) before Cal Mitchell broke it up with a ground-rule double.

• Compiled a career-high, 19.0-inning scoreless streak from April 20-30, highest among all Cardinals pitchers in 2022.

• Had five starts of 8.0 innings or more, ranking T3rd in MLB behind Sandy Alcántara (14, MIA) and Aaron Nola (6, PHI). Threw 8.0 innings in back-to-back starts August 14 & 19 or the 2nd time this season. (Also: June 9 at TB (8.0 IP) and June 14 [2] vs. PIT (8.2 IP).

• Limited his opposition to 2 earned runs or fewer in 15 of his first 19 starts (2.54 ERA), but allowed 3 or more in seven of his 13 starts after the All-Star break (4.44 ERA).

• Received 4+ runs of support in 12 starts last season (STL is 12-0) and 8+ runs of support in six starts, including a season high 12 on 6/3 at CHI. Received 1 run or fewer in 15 starts (STL is 3-12), including 10 starts with zero runs (STL 2-8).

MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (0-0) at Kansas City Royals (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (0-0) at Kansas City Royals (0-0)

MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:

THE TWINS: The Twins will open their 63rd season with three games in four days against Kansas City through the weekend…today marks the fifth time in Twins history (since 1961) that they have opened against the Royals (1969, ’74, ’02 & ’17) and third time at Kauffman Stadium (’74 & ’02)…two other times in their history, the Twins opened against Kansas City, but it was when they were the Athletics in 1962 & ’66…following this series, the Twins will travel to Miami for a three-game series from March 3-5…following this trip, Minnesota will open its 14th season at Target Field with three against the Astros (April 6-9) and three against the White Sox (April 10-12).

SPRING CLEANING: The Twins completed their 33rd Spring Training in Fort Myers, FL on Tuesday with a record of 14-15-3…Max Kepler, Trevor Larnach and Jose Miranda tied for club lead in hits (13)…Miranda led in home runs (5)…Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer and Miranda tied for first in RBI (11)…Michael A. Taylor and Mark Contreras tied for team lead in games (17)… Tyler Mahle led the club in innings pitched (17.2), while Joe Ryan was the team leader in strikeouts (20)…additionally, the Twins drew 103,023 in total attendance, which included an unofficial game against the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic squad on March 9. 2022

IN THE REAR VIEW: The Twins finished the 2022 season with a record of 78-84 and in third place of the AL Central, 14.0 games back of the division-winning Cleveland Guardians… Minnesota began the season by going 27-16 through games of May 24, where they were a high-water mark of 11 games over .500…they spent a total of 108 days in first place but went 51-68 after games of May 24…the Twins used a club-record 62 players during the season and tied a club record by using 36 pitchers (also in 2017)…14 different pitchers made a start for the Twins with Dylan Bundy leading the staff at 29.

GRAND OPENING: The Twins opened last season vs. the Mariners at Target Field, losing by a score of 2-1 as Gio Urshela’s solo home run marked the only scoring for Minnesota…the Twins are 27-35 all-time in season openers, 11-13 when opening at home and 16-22 when opening on the road…the Twins have lost their last two season openers and are seeking their first OD victory since a 10-5 win at Guaranteed Rate Field on July 24, 2020 against the White Sox.

Pablo López will become the Twins’ 15th different Opening Day starter since 2005…he will be the second Venezuelan-born starter for the Twins in club history, joining Johan Santana (2006 & ’07)…the last Twins starter to earn a road win on Opening Day was Brad Radke on March 31, 2003 at Detroit…in fact, Radke has the Twins’ last two OD wins on the road for a starter (also 2001) since Frank Viola was the club’s starter and winner on April 8, 1986 at Oakland.

Today will mark López’s first career Opening Day start, giving the Twins five starters in their opening rotation to have made an Opening Day start in their career (credit Elias): Sonny Gray (2014-15 for Oakland & ’20 for Cincinnati), Joe Ryan (2022 for Minnesota), Tyler Mahle (2022 for Cincinnati) and Kenta Maeda (2021 for Minnesota)…the last time the Twins had five pitchers with an OD start on same roster was April 1988: Bert Blyleven, Steve Carlton, Charlie Lea, Joe Niekro and Frank Viola…last major league team to do so was last year’s Colorado Rockies: Ty Blach, Jhoulys Chacín, Kyle Freeland, Chad Kuhl and Germán Márquez.

The roster has six Puerto Rican born players: Willi Castro, Carlos Correa, Jorge López, Jose Miranda, Jovani Moran and Christian Vázquez…marks the first time the Twins have had as many PR players at one time.

ROC SOLID: Rocco Baldelli is entering his fifth season as the skipper, and enters with a career managerial record of 288-258 (.527)…he ranks sixth on the club’s all-time managerial wins list, trailing Tom Kelly (1,140), Ron Gardenhire (1,068), Sam Mele (522), Gene Mauch (378) and Paul Molitor (305)…his .527 winning percentage is second best in club history among man- agers with at least 400 games, trailing only Sam Mele’s .548 mark (522-431 from 1961-67).

Rocco’s staff includes: first base/catching coach Hank Conger (2nd season), quality control coach Nate Dammann (4th season), assistant bench coach/infield Tony Diaz (5th season w/ MIN), hitting coach Rudy Hernandez (28th season in MIN org), pitching coach Pete Maki (4th season), hitting coach David Popkins (2nd season), assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez (2nd season at ML level), assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon (1st season at ML level), bullpen coach Colby Suggs (2nd season), bench coach Jayce Tingler (2nd season) and third base/outfield coach Tommy Watkins (14th season in MIN org).

ROYALTY CHECK: The Twins and Royals are playing the first of 13 meetings in 2023…they went 12-7 against Kansas City last season, going 4-5 at Kauffman Stadium and 8-2 at Target Field.

The 12 wins were the Twins’ most against any opponent last season…the last time they had as many wins against KC in one season was 2019, when they went 14-5.

Twins outscored the Royals 85-59 last season…after starting the season 0-2, they won 12 of their final 17 against KC.

Twins batters hit .284 (180-for-633) with 31 doubles, three triples, 14 home runs, 65 walks and a .762 OPS vs. KC in 2022.

Starting pitchers went 8-4, 2.55 ERA (98.2 IP, 28 ER) with 20 walks, 85 strikeouts and a .202 (73-for-361) BAA vs. KC in 2022.

Carlos Correa is hitting .361 (39-for-108) with six doubles, six home runs, 16 RBI, 17 walks, a .448 on-base percentage and a 1.031 OPS in 29 games against the Royals since 2019…he enters today with a nine-game hitting streak against the Royals…Correa has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games at Kauffman Stadium, hitting .385 (20-for-52) with a 1.008 OPS in that span.

Jose Miranda is hitting .302 (13-for-43) with two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, a .375 on-base percentage, a .488 slugging percentage and an .863 OPS in 12 career games vs. KC.

Byron Buxton is hitting .309 (21-for-68) with seven doubles, three home runs, six RBI, 16 runs scored and a .904 OPS in his last 16 games against the Royals, reaching safely in all 16.

C4-EVER MINNESOTA: On January 11, Carlos Correa signed a six-year guaranteed contract through the 2028 season…the deal includes four team options covering the 2029 through 2032 campaigns, each of which can automatically vest based on performance in the previous season…the 28-year-old hit .291 (152-for-522) with 24 doubles, one triple, 22 home runs, 64 RBI, 70 runs scored, 61 walks, a .366 on-base percentage and an .834 OPS in 136 games for the Twins last season…he led all MLB shortstops in OPS (.834), while ranking second among that same group in slugging percentage (.467) and on-base percentage (.366), and third in batting average (.291) and RC/27 (5.84)…Correa also hit .310 (79-for-255) with an .880 OPS in 67 home games, the sixth-highest home average in the AL and 10th best in baseball; it was also the eighth-best home average in Target Field history (since 2010)…after the season, Correa was named winner of the Most Valuable Twin Award, the Bob Allison Award for leadership, the Jim Kaat Award as Twins Defensive Player of the Year, the Mike Augustin “Media Good Guy” Award and the Carl R. Pohlad Outstanding Community Service Award.

ALLOW ME TO RE-INTRODUCE MYSELF: The Twins open the 2023 season with 15 players on their 26-man roster who were not on the 2022 Opening Day roster: pitchers (7) – Griffin Jax, Jorge López, Pablo López, Kenta Maeda, Tyler Mahle, Jovani Moran and Cole Sands; catcher (1) – Christian Vázquez; infielders (4) – Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer, Jose Miranda and Donovan Solano; and outfielders (3) – Joey Gallo, Trevor Larnach and Michael A. Taylor…of the 26 players on the Twins’ active roster, nine began their professional careers in the Twins organization…nobody is looking to make a major league debut…the oldest player on the club is Caleb Thielbar (36 years, 1 month, 24 days) and the youngest is Jose Miranda (24 years, 9 months, 1 day).

PABLO LóPEZ 49
Making his first career Opening Day start and his first start for Minnesota in his sixth major league season (Miami – 2018-22)…also his 95th career appearance (all starts).

Facing Kansas City for the second time in his career…prior start came September 6, 2019 vs. Kansas City with Miami (L, 6.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R/ER, 6 K).

Acquired by the Twins from Miami on January 20, 2023, along with infielder Jose Salas and outfielder Byron Chourio, in exchange for infielder/outfielder Luis Arraez.

CAREER NOTES
• In 2022, set career highs in wins (10), games started (32), innings pitched (180.0) and strikeouts (174) as number two starter for Miami.

• 489 career strikeouts with Miami are 11th on their all-time list and is one of 16 pitchers in Marlins history to reach 500.0 innings pitched.

• In 2021, spent fourth season with Miami, holding opponents to two-or-fewer runs in 15 of his 18 starts and posting a career-low 1.12 WHIP.

• Made first career Postseason appearance October 7, 2020, going 5.0 innings and al- lowing three hits and two runs while striking out seven in a loss to Atlanta in Game 2 of the National League Division Series.

• Recipient of 2020 Marlins Charlie Hough Good Guy Award, which is voted on by the Miami chapter of the BBWAA to recognize a Miami player who fostered a strong relationship with reporters.

• In 2020, spent entire season on active roster and led Marlins in innings pitched (57.1), games started (11), wins (6) and strikeouts (59).

• Made only 21 starts in 2019 after missing over two months on the Injured List with a right shoulder strain, posting a 5.09 ERA in 111.1 innings pitched with 95 strikeouts. • Made major league debut on June 30, 2018 vs. New York-NL and earned first career victory, tossing 6.0 innings with five strikeouts while limiting the Mets to two runs.

• Started 2018 season with Double-A Jacksonville, earning Southern League Midsea- son All-Star honors before being promoted to Triple-A New Orleans.

• Acquired by Miami along with outfielder Brayan Hernandez, right-handed pitcher Brandon Miller and right-handed pitcher Lukas Schiraldi from Seattle in exchange for right-handed pitcher David Phelps on July 20, 2017.

• Spent 2017 season at High-A level in Seattle and Miami organizations.

• Went 6-1, 1.88 ERA (71.2 IP, 15 ER) in 17 appearances (13 starts) for Low-A Clinton (Seattle) in 2016.

• Missed 2014 season following Tommy John surgery on November 11, 2013.

• Made professional debut with Venezuelan Summer League Mariners on May 23, 2013.

• Originally signed by Seattle as international free agent on July 4, 2012.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:

SEASON 55: The Royals will begin their 55th season in franchise history today vs. the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium…they are coming off a 2022 campaign in which they went 65-97 (.394) and had 21 rookies appear in a game, including 13 who made their Major League debut…Kansas City is seeking its first winning season since posting four consecutive seasons at .500 or better from 2013-16, including back-to-back American League pennants in 2014-15 and a 2015 World Series championship…in the club’s first 54 seasons, the Royals have won seven division titles, four American League titles (1980, 1985, 2014 and 2015) and two World Series championships (1985 and 2015)…they are one of three franchises that have joined the league since 1969 or later to win multiple World Series, along with the Miami Marlins (first season was 1993, won World Series in 1997 and 2003) and Toronto Blue Jays (first season was 1977, won World Series in 1992-93).

PLAY BALL!: The Royals are 20-34 all-time on Opening Day but have won five of the last eight openers after losing six straight from 2009-14…the Royals beat the Guardians, 3-1, on Opening Day last season, thanks to an RBI double in the 8th by Bobby Witt Jr., his 1st career hit in his Major League debut…today’s season opener marks the seventh time in the last nine years that the Royals will begin the season at home, and they are 5-1 in their last 6 Opening Day games at home dating back to 2015, with the only loss coming in 2018 vs. the White Sox.

This will be the fifth time the Royals will begin the season vs. the Twins…they are 2-2 in their previous meetings, including losses in 2002 and 2017 and wins in 1969—the 1st game in team history—and in 1974.

ROSTER RUNDOWN: The Royals announced several transactions to set their 2023 Opening Day roster this morning…they selected the contracts of outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Franmil Reyes and infielder Matt Duffy…left hander Richard Lovelady was traded to the Braves for cash considerations…additionally, left hander Jake Brentz was placed on the 60-day Injured List as he continues to recover from left elbow surgery, and outfielder Diego Hernandez was recalled and placed on the 60-day IL with a dislocated right shoulder… outfielder Drew Waters was placed on the 10-day IL retroactive to March 27 with a left oblique strain, and lefthanded pitcher Daniel Lynch was placed on the 15-day IL retroactive to March 27 with a rotator cuff strain… left-handed pitcher Angel Zerpa was placed on the 60-day IL on March 15 with left shoulder tendinopathy.

The Kansas City Royals 26-man Opening Day roster includes 15 players who made the Opening Day roster in 2022, including pitchers Scott Barlow, Kris Bubic, Taylor Clarke, Dylan Coleman, Amir Garrett, Zack Greinke, Carlos Hernández, Brad Keller and Brady Singer; catcher Salvador Perez; infielders Hunter Dozier, Nicky Lopez and Bobby Witt Jr.; and outfielders Kyle Isbel and Edward Olivares.

Five players made the Opening Day roster this season for the first time in their career, including pitcher Jose Cuas, catcher MJ Melendez and infielders Nate Eaton, Michael Massey and Vinnie Pasquantino.

Six players will be making their Royals debuts with their 1st appearance this season, including pitchers Aroldis Chapman, Jordan Lyles and Ryan Yarbrough, infielder Duffy and outfielders Bradley Jr. and Reyes.

Zack Greinke made the Opening Day roster for the 17th time in his career and is making his 7th career Opening Day start today.…this marks his 6th Opening Day start in the last eight seasons, which matches Max Scherzer, Aaron Nola and Madison Bumgarner for the most Opening Day starts by a pitcher in the Majors since 2016.

Salvador Perez is making his 9th career Opening Day start at catcher, most in franchise history at that position…Salvy’s 9 career Opening Day starts (at any position) are tied with Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney for the 7th most in franchise history.

VS. TWINS: The Royals will host the Twins today on Opening Day for the fifth time in franchise history and first since 2017…the Royals 413 wins all-time vs. the Twins are their most vs. any opponent, but they went 7-12 vs. Minnesota last season to lose the season series for the first time since 2019…the Royals swept the Twins in their most recent meeting, a 3-game set here at Kauffman Stadium from Sept. 20-22, 2022, their first sweep of the Twins in two years.

The Royals and Twins will play 13 games against each other in 2023 as part of Major League Baseball’s balanced schedule…excluding 2020, the 13 games this year will be the fewest between these two teams in a single season since 2000 (12)…the Royals will travel to Target Field for a 4-game set from April 27-30 and for 3 games from July 3-5, and they’ll host the Twins back here at Kauffman Stadium from July 28-30.

BALANCED SCHEDULE: For the first time since Interleague play was introduced in 1997, Major League Baseball has adopted a balanced schedule starting in 2023, in which the Royals will play all other 29 teams…they’ll play a total of 52 games vs. American League Central opponents, 64
games vs. teams from the American League East and West and 46 Interleague games, including 4 vs. St. Louis and 3 vs. all others…following their 2-game set at Busch Stadium from May 29-30, the Royals are scheduled for back-to-back off days on May 31-June 1, before beginning a 3-game homestand vs. Colorado…this will mark the first time that the Royals will have scheduled back-to-back off days since April 6-7, 2016…another scheduling quirk later in the season will come after the Royals host the Cardinals for 2 games from Aug. 11-12…on the following day, Sunday, Aug. 13, the Royals have a scheduled off day, which will be the first known originally scheduled off day on a Sunday in Royals history.

PACE OF PLAY: In addition to the balanced schedule, another big change for the 2023 season is the new pitch timer rules, which provided stunning results during Spring Training…in 453 games that lasted 9 innings across both leagues this spring, the average time of game was 2 hours, 34 minutes, and only 40 of those 453 games (8.8%) lasted at least 3 hours…Kansas City played 33 Cactus League games and 31 of them lasted 9 innings with an average of 2 hours, 31 minutes, slightly below league average…the other 2 games were shortened by rain…the Royals longest game of the spring was a 3-hour affair on March 11 vs. Milwaukee and their shortest 9-inning game was Sunday’s contest in Mesa vs. the Cubs, in which they finished in 1 hour, 57 minutes…in the 2022 regular season, the Royals average time of game was 3 hours, 3 minutes, which tied for the 4th-fastest in the Majors.

SPRING KINGS: The Royals went 19-13-1 in Spring Training, finishing a half-game behind the 18-11-2 Angels for the best record in the Cactus League…the Royals 19 wins, however, were tops among all 30 Major League teams, and if you count their win over Great Britain on March 9, the Royals had 20 exhibition wins for the fifth time in franchise history, following 2015 (20), 2013 (25), 2011 (20) and 1999 (22)…the Royals started 14-2 this spring, but finished 5-11-1.

The Royals ranked among the Major League leaders this spring in several offensive categories, including 1st in slugging percentage (.476), runs (182), doubles (76) and total bases (523), 3rd in OPS (.808) and tied for 3rd in home runs (44)…these totals do not include the Royals 8-1 win over Great Britain on March 9, nor did that win count toward the official Cactus League standings.

TODAY’S STARTERS: RHP ZACK GREINKE (4-9, 3.68 ERA IN 2022)

ZACK GREINKE is entering his 20th season in the Majors in 2023, becoming the 157th player in Major League history to appear in parts of 20 seasons, according to Elias…he is a six-time All-Star, a six-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner and was named the American League Cy Young Award winner in 2009 with the Royals.

He is one of three pitchers in Major League history with at least six Rawlings Gold Gloves and six All-Star selections, along with Greg Maddux and Bob Gibson.

Among active pitchers, Greinke ranks 1st in starts (514), innings (3247.0), 2nd in wins (223) and 3rd in strikeouts (2,882)…he is one of three pitchers in Major League history to win a Cy Young Award, a Rawlings Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award, along with Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser.

BACK TO ZACK: Zack returned in 2023 for the second straight year to Kansas City, where he spent the first seven seasons of his Major League career, after being selected by the Royals 6th overall in the 2002 Draft…Greinke is the 33rd player to play for the Royals, leave the organization and later return…he missed time due to two stints on the Injured List in 2022, limiting him to only 137.0 innings, the 4th fewest in his career behind the shortened 2020 season (67.0 IP), 2006 (6.1 IP) and 2007 (122.0 IP)…he did, however, rank 2nd among Royals starters with a 3.68 ERA (56 ER in 137.0 IP).

OPENING DAY ROYALTY: Greinke is making his 7th career Opening Day start today and 6th in the last eight seasons…his 6 Opening Day starts since 2016 are tied with Max Scherzer, Aaron Nola and Madison Bumgarner for the most among all pitchers during that time…Greinke also started on Opening Day in 2010 and 2022 with Kansas City, 2016-17 and 2019 with Arizona and in 2021 with Houston.

At 39 years, 160 days old, he is the oldest Opening Day starter in Royals history, surpassing his own record set last season…the last pitcher older than Zack to start a game for an American League team on Opening Day was Curt Schilling, who started for Boston in 2007 at age 40 at Kauffman Stadium vs. the Royals.

This will be Greinke’s 3rd Opening Day start as a Royal, tied for the 3rd most in franchise history, trailing Royals Hall of Famers Kevin Appier, who started on Opening Day a club record seven times, and Dennis Leonard (4).

LAST SEASON: Greinke had a 4.64 ERA (40 ER in 77.2 IP) in 15 starts before the All-Star break last season, but pitched to a 2.43 ERA (16 ER in 59.1 IP) in 11 starts after the break…among American League pitchers who made at least 10 starts after the break, Greinke’s 2.43 ERA ranked 9th, but he went just 1-3 during that stretch…Zack’s 2.43 ERA in the second half was his best since 2015 (1.99)…it was the best second half ERA by a Royal (min. 10 starts) since Danny Duffy had a 2.23 ERA (16 ER in 64.2 IP) in the second half of 2014…Greinke endured two stints on the IL in 2022, but upon his return from the first stint on June 29, Zack recorded a 2.95 ERA (26 ER in 79.1 IP) through the end of the season, and allowed 1 earned run or fewer in 9 of his final 15 starts.

MILESTONE MAKER: Greinke reached several milestones in 2022, including making his 500th career start on June 29 vs. Texas, becoming one of
48 pitchers to reach that milestone, one of only 28 in the Expansion Era (since 1961) and the first since CC Sabathia made his 500th start with the Yankees on Aug. 1, 2017…among the group of 28 pitchers with 500 starts since 1961, Greinke’s career win percentage of .613 (223-141) ranks 6th, trailing only Roger Clemens (.658), Randy Johnson (.646), Mike Mussina (.638), Jim Palmer (.638) and Andy Pettitte (.626)…he enters the 2023 season with 514 career starts, including 195 with the Royals (37.9%), which are 9 starts behind Danny Duffy (204) for the 7th most in ranchise history.

Zack has thrown 51,093 pitches in his career, 14th most among all pitchers since 1988 (when data is available)…he trails only Justin Verlander (51,434) among active pitchers on the list, which is led by Hall of Famer Tom Glavine (68,226).

CROWN VISION: Greinke has made 106 starts at Kauffman Stadium, 6th most in the 50-season history of the ballpark…he is one of 10 active pitchers with at least 100 starts in an active ballpark, and he’s the only active pitcher with at least 100 starts at Kauffman Stadium…Greinke went 4-2 in 12 home starts in 2022, increasing his career win total to 41, the 7th most in the 50-season history of this ballpark…his 1.91 ERA (14 ER in 66.0 IP) at Kauffman Stadium in 2022 was the 3rd-best home ERA in the American League (min. 10 starts) behind Justin Verlander (1.64) and Shohei Ohtani (1.82)…it was the 4th-best home ERA in Royals history (min. 10 starts) behind himself in 2009 (1.70), Bret Saberhagen in 1989 (1.71) and Paul Splittorff in 1971 (1.90).

Zack has allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in 17 of his last 19 starts at Kauffman Stadium dating back to Sept. 30, 2010, a stretch in which he owns a 2.21 ERA (27 ER in 110.0 IP), including 6 starts as a visitor from 2012-21…he allowed just 2 home runs in 66.0 innings at Kauffman Stadium in 2022 for a 0.14 HR/9, the best home mark in the Majors (min. 10 starts)…he did not allow a home run in his last 33.1 innings at Kauffman Stadium in 2022, and ended the season on a 30.1-inning homerless streak overall (home or road), covering his last 5-plus starts.

MLB Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (0-0) at Chicago Cubs (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (0-0) at Chicago Cubs (0-0)

MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:

THIS AFTERNOON’S GAME: The Brewers open the 2023 season with a 3-game, 4-day road trip to Chicago-NL…..following this series, the team begins its home schedule with a 6-game, 7-day homestand against New York-NL (3g) and St. Louis (3g).

OPENING DAY ROSTER:
PITCHERS (13) – RH Corbin Burnes, RH Matt Bush, RH Javy Guerra, LH Eric Lauer, LH Wade Miley, LH Hoby Milner, RH Joel Payamps, RH Freddy Peralta, RH Peter Strzelecki, RH Gus Varland, RH Devin Williams, RH Bryse Wilson, RH Brandon Woodruff

CATCHERS (2) – Victor Caratini, William Contreras INFIELDERS (8) – Willy Adames, Brian Anderson, Mike Brosseau, Owen Miller, Rowdy Tellez, Brice Turang, Luis Urías, Luke Voit

OUTFIELDERS (3) – Garrett Mitchell, Jesse Winker, Christian Yelich IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP Adrian Houser (right groin), OF Tyrone Taylor (right elbow) and LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow) are on the injured list…..Alexander is on the 60-day IL.

THE NEW BREW: INF/OF Brian Anderson (free agent), C William Contreras (trade with ATL), RHP Javy Guerra (trade with TB), LHP Wade Miley (free agent), INF/OF Owen Miller (trade with CLE), RHP Joel Payamps (trade with OAK), RHP Gus Varland (Rule 5 Draft from LAD), 1B Luke Voit (free agent), RHP Bryse Wilson (trade with PIT) and OF Jesse Winker (trade with SEA).

GONE FROM 2022: RHP Brad Boxberger (CHC), C Mario Feliciano (DET), RHP Trevor Gott (SEA), RHP Jandel Gustave (ARI), RHP Trevor Kelley (TB), OF Andrew McCutchen (PIT), C Omar Narváez (NYM), RHP Luis Perdomo (Japan), INF/OF Jace Peterson (OAK), OF Hunter Renfroe (LAA), INF/OF Pablo Reyes (OAK), LHP Taylor Rogers (SF), OF Esteury Ruiz (OAK), LHP Brent Suter (COL), RHP Justin Topa (SEA) and 2B Kolten Wong (SEA).

NOTABLE OFFSEASON TRANSACTIONS: 11/18, acquired RHP Javy Guerra from Tampa Bay in exchange for a player to be named (RHP Victor Castaneda)…..11/22, acquired RHP Janson Junk, RHP Elvis Peguero and LHP Adam Seminaris from Los AngelesAL in exchange for OF Hunter Renfroe…..12/2, acquired OF Jesse Winker and INF Abraham Toro from Seattle in exchange for 2B Kolten Wong and cash….. 12/7, selected RHP Gus Varland from Los Angeles-NL in the first round of the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft…..12/12, acquired C William Contreras (ATL), RHP Joel Payamps (OAK) and RHP Justin Yeager (ATL) in a three-team trade with Atlanta and Oakland, sending OF Esteury Ruiz to Oakland…..12/14, acquired INF/OF Owen Miller from Cleveland in exchange for a player to be named or cash…..1/4, acquired RHP Bryse Wilson from Pittsburgh in exchange for cash…..1/9, signed LHP Wade Miley to a 1-year contract with a mutual option for 2024…..1/23, signed INF/OF Brian Anderson to a 1-year contract.

MANAGER: Craig Counsell – the longest-tenured active manager in the National League and third in the majors – is in his ninth season as Brewers manager (615-555) and eighth full season…..he has the most wins of any manager in franchise history…..his 1,170 games managed are second to Phil Garner (1,180)…..Counsell was named the 19th manager in franchise history on 5/4/15, replacing Ron Roenicke…..he is signed through the 2023 season.

COACHES: First base coach Quintin Berry (3rd season), hitting coach Connor Dawson (2nd season), bullpen coach Jim Henderson (2nd season), pitching coach Chris Hook (5th season), third base coach Jason Lane (8th season, 3rd as 3B coach), associate pitching, catching and strategy coach Walker McKinven (4th season), bench coach Pat Murphy (8th season) and hitting coach Ozzie Timmons (2nd season) all returned from the 2022 staff…..Néstor Corredor, who had previously been bullpen catcher (2021-22), is now a coach.

2022 IN REVIEW: The Brewers went 86-76 last season, missing the postseason for the first time since 2017…..the team was eliminated from NL Central contention on September 27 and eliminated from postseason contention on October 3, snapping their franchise-record four consecutive years of making the playoffs…..the team won at least 86 games for the fifth consecutive full season (since 2017), joining the Dodgers (since 2012), Astros (since 2017) and Yankees (since 2017) as the only teams to accomplish the feat during this stretch (does not include 2020).

TODAY’S STARTER: #39 – RHP CORBIN BURNES (33gs, 12-8, 2.94 in 2022)

BURNES AT A GLANCE: Corbin Burnes, 28, is making his second career Opening Day start…..he also started the opener last season on 4/7 at Wrigley Field and received no decision in a 5-4 loss (5ip, 4h, 3r, 3er, 3bb, 4k, 1hr)…..he went 12-8 with a 2.94 ERA in 33 starts last season, finishing seventh in NL Cy Young Award voting after winning the award in 2021…..Burnes was an All-Star for the second straight season and was named Brewers Most Valuable Pitcher for the second year in a row…..his career-high 243 strikeouts led the National League and ranked second in the majors behind the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole (257)…..he became the first pitcher in franchise history to lead his league in strikeouts…..he also ranked among the NL top five in starts (T1st, 33), AVG (2nd, .197), K/9IP (2nd, 10.83), H/9IP (2nd, 6.42), innings pitched (4th, 202.0), K/BB (4th, 4.76), quality starts (T4th, 21) and WHIP (5th, 0.97)…..the team went 20-13 in his starts…..Burnes was selected by Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Mary’s (CA) College…..he is under club control through 2024.

CY BURNES: Burnes won the 2021 National League Cy Young Award after going 11-5 with a Major League-best 2.43 ERA in 28 starts…..he became the third pitcher in franchise history to win a Cy Young Award, joining Rollie Fingers (1981) and Pete Vuckovich (1982)…..he became the first pitcher in franchise history to lead his league in ERA.

CAREER: Is 35-19 with a 3.21 ERA in 135 games/74 starts (515.2ip, 184er)…..is in his sixth Major League season, all with the Brewers (2018-23)…..is 27-16 with a 2.93 ERA as a starter (433.2ip, 141er) and 8-3 with a 4.72 ERA in relief (82ip, 43er)…..Burnes is a two-time All-Star (2021-22) and was a 2021 All-MLB First Team selection.

CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 17-12 with a 3.47 ERA in 66 games/39 starts (272.2ip, 105er)…..went 7-4 with a 3.04 ERA in 18 starts last season (109.2ip, 37er).

CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 18-7 with a 2.93 ERA in 69 games/35 starts (243ip, 79er)…..went 5-4 with a 2.83 ERA in 15 starts last season (92.1ip, 29er).

CAREER vs. CUBS: Is 2-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 14 games/8 starts (57ip, 20er), including 0-1 with a 2.37 ERA in 3 starts last season (19ip, 5er)…..Burnes has five 10+ strikeout performances over his last 6 starts against Chicago, including a career-high 15 on 8/11/21 at Wrigley Field…..he has gone 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in 8 career games/3 starts at Wrigley Field (24ip, 7er).

CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:

NO. 148 BEGINS: The Chicago Cubs today begin their 148th National League campaign with the first of three games in four days against the Milwaukee Brewers … Chicago last season was 74-88, the team’s second-straight sub-.500 season (71-91 in 2021) following a run of six-straight winning campaigns from 2015-20.

© The Cubs open the season with 16 of their first 25 games through April 27 at Wrigley Field … of those first 25 tilts, just six are against their own division, the N.L. Central: this Brewers series is followed by a three-game set in Cincinnati, April 3-5 … in fact, after April 5 the Cubs play 29-straight games outside of the division until hosting the Cardinals for three games, May 8-10.

© What’s even more odd? … following the three-game set in Cincinnati, April 3-5, the team’s next road series against an opponent in its own division is not until June 19-21 for three games in Pittsburgh.

© Starting with an April 10 home game vs. the Mariners, Chicago will have a stretch in which 13 of 16 games through April 27 are against 2022 playoff teams (3 games vs. the Mariners, seven games in 10 days against the Dodgers and three games vs. the Padres).

OPENING DAY FACTS: The Cubs have an 80-65-2 all-time Opening Day record … Chicago is 49-40 when opening the season on the road and 31-25-2 when opening at home (includes the 2000 opener in Japan) … the Cubs are 24-24-1 in season openers played at Wrigley Field.

© The Cubs are opening a season against the Brewers for the second-straight season (5-4 win last year) and for the fourth time ever, with Milwaukee winning two of the first three … March 31, 2008, the Cubs fell to the Brewers, 4-3, in 10 innings … July 24, 2020, the Cubs beat the Brewers, 3-0, in the opener that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

IT’S EARLY: The Cubs today will play just their 13th game in March in franchise history and first since going 1-2 to open the 2019 season in Texas … this will be the earliest home game (and Wrigley Field game) in franchise history … the only other time the Cubs played at home in March was March 31, 2008, against the Brewers, a 4-3 loss in 10 innings at Wrigley Field … (note that the Cubs were the “home team” for the 2000 season opener against the Mets in Japan on March 29, 2000 – but that certainly was not a home game).

© Chicago is 5-7 in March but has outscored (77-61), out-hit (123-101) and outhomered (17-13) the opposition in those 12 games … the team has scored in double digits in three of the last four March games.

FIRST-TIMERS CLUB: Four Cubs have made their first career Opening Day rosters: Javier Assad, Mark Leiter Jr., Miles Mastrobuoni and Hayden Wesneski.

ROSSY AT THE HELM: David Ross today begins his fourth season as manager of the Cubs after he was named the 55th manager in franchise history, October 24, 2019, replacing Joe Maddon … this is Ross’ 26th professional baseball season … he played 15 major league seasons as a catcher, including his final two with Chicago (2015-16) … is a two-time World Series champ with Boston (in 2013) and Chicago (2016).

THIS AND THAT: With Marcus Stroman making the Opening Day start and Yan Gomes getting the start behind the dish, this marks the first time both the pitcher and catcher are making their first Opening Day starts for the team since 2016 when Jake Arrieta (P) and Miguel Montero (C) did so.

© With Trey Mancini making today’s start at DH, the Cubs will be using their fifth designated hitter in five Opening Days … the other four: Jorge Soler (at the Angels in 2016), Ben Zobrist (at the Rangers in 2019), Victor Caratini (vs. the Brewers in 2020) and Rafael Ortega (vs. the Brewers 2022).

© Ian Happ will be making his fifth Opening Day start and becomes the 80th player in Cubs history with at least five Opening Day starts … he is 5-for-15 (.333) with two doubles, two homers and five RBI in his first four Opening Day starts … on Opening Day 2018, he hit the very first pitch of the major league season for a homer off Miami’s Jose Ureña.

‘STRO SHOW: Marcus Stroman today makes his third career Opening Day start as he earned the win for Toronto in 2016 at Tampa Bay (8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) and garnered a no-decision for the Blue Jays in 2019 vs. Detroit (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 4 BB, 7 SO).

SUMMARIZING THE SPRING: The Cubs finished Spring Training with a 17-12-2 record, the third-best Cactus League mark behind the Angels (18-11-2) and Royals (19-13-1) … Cubs pitching recorded a 3.90 ERA (117 ER/270.0 IP), the lowest mark in the Cactus League and second-best in the majors behind Houston (3.30) … Chicago batted .241 (243-for-1,009) with 35 home runs and a .729 OPS.

JUST A MATTER OF TIME: Just two of Chicago’s 31 spring games went over three hours: the team’s opener, Feb. 25 vs. the Giants (3:06) and March 25’s game at the Angels (3:07) … the team’s quickest game this spring was the next day, March 26, a tidy 1-hour, 57-minute contest vs. the Royals.

0 RHP Marcus Stroman (0-0, 0.00)

W-L % ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP
2022 – Cubs 6-7 .462 3.50 25 25 0 0 0 0 138.2 123 61 54 16 36 0 119 4
2023 – Cubs (Spring Training) 2-0 1.000 0.90 3 3 0 0 0 0 10.0 9 2 1 0 3 0 10 0
Major League Totals 67-67 .500 3.62 204 198 1 3 1 1 1167.0 1137 523 469 111 324 5 972 28

Last Time Out
Marcus tossed 5.2 innings, allowing one unearned run, March 24 in a Spring Training
tuneup vs. Texas … walked one and struck out five, allowing five hits.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
3/24 TEX W, 5-3 5.2 5 1 0 1 5 — —

2023 Spring Training Notes
In Spring Training with the Cubs, Marcus made two high quality starts, and finished the Cactus League season with a 2-0 record and a 0.90 ERA (1 ER/10.0 IP), while recording 10 strikeouts.

Career Notes
Marcus is in his ninth major league season since debuting in 2014 with Toronto … signed a three-year contract with the Cubs on December 1, 2021.

© Started two series-clinching wins for the Blue Jays in the postseason … started Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS vs. Texas and the 2016 A.L. Wild Card game … delivered a quality start in both games to help Toronto advance.

© Earned 2017 World Baseball Classic MVP honors, posting a 1-1 record with a 2.35 ERA (4 ER/15.1 IP) for Team USA … took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the championship game, an 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico.

MLB Preview: Baltimore Orioles (0-0) at Boston Red Sox (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: Baltimore Orioles (0-0) at Boston Red Sox (0-0)

BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:

2023 OPENING DAY: The Baltimore Orioles begin their 70th season this afternoon against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The O’s are playing the Red Sox on Opening Day for the third time in the last four seasons, along with 2021 (W, 3-0) and 2020 (L, 13-2); both of those games took place in Boston.

It is the fifth time that the O’s have opened their season at Fenway Park (2021, 2020, 1966, and 1956).

Baltimore and Boston have squared off on Opening Day 10 times since 1954, with the Orioles holding a 7-3 advantage (5-1 in Baltimore and 2-2 at Boston).

OPENING ACT: The Orioles are 44-25 overall and 12-12 on the road on Opening Day in the franchise’s history (since 1954)…Baltimore has won nine of their last 12 Opening Days, including wins in eight straight season openers from 2011-18.

GIBBY ON THE BUMP: Kyle Gibson is scheduled to become the 42nd Opening Day starter in Orioles history (since 1954) and the second O’s pitcher in the last four seasons to make his Baltimore debut with a start on Opening Day, joining Tommy Milone (2020)… Marks the second career Opening Day start for the 2021 American League All-Star, who toed the rubber for Texas in the 2021 opener…Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin are set to follow Gibson in the rotation on Saturday and Sunday in Boston.

SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON: The Orioles went 9-10 against the Red Sox last year,
including 5-4 at home and 4-6 at Fenway Park…The season series was not decided
until the final game on September 29 in Boston.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN: The Orioles open the 2023 season with 13 pitchers and 13
position players on the active roster…Six players have made their first career Opening
Day roster: Kyle Bradish, Logan Gillaspie, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Kyle
Stowers, and Terrin Vavra…Fifteen of the 26 players were on Baltimore’s Opening Day
roster in 2022, while four players will be making their O’s debut: Danny Coulombe,
Adam Frazier, Kyle Gibson, and Cole Irvin…James McCann begins the season on the
10-day Injured List, Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate begin the year on the 15-day Injured
List, and John Means begins the year on the 60-day Injured List.

THE SKIPPER: Manager Brandon Hyde returns for his fifth season…In 2022, he led the O’s to an 83-79 record, his first winning season as manager and the club’s first winning campaign since 2016…He was named the Baseball America MLB Manager of the Year and was voted the Sporting News American League Manager of the Year by fellow AL managers…He finished second in voting for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) American League Manager of the Year award…Hyde was named the 20th manager in Orioles history on December 14, 2018.

COACHING STAFF: The Orioles announced their 2023 Major League Coaching Staff on November 8, 2022…The club named Cody Asche (ASH-ee) Offensive Strategy Coach…Ryan Klimek (KLIM-ick) enters his first full season on the Major League Staff as Pitching Strategy Coach…All other coaches remain in their same positions: Matt Borgschulte (BORG-shult-ee) and Ryan Fuller as Co-Hitting Coaches, Tim Cossins as Major League Field Coordinator/Catching Instructor, Fredi González as Bench Coach, José Hernández as Major League Coach, Darren Holmes as Assistant Pitching Coach, Chris Holt as Pitching Coach/Director of Pitching, Tony Mansolino as Third Base Coach, and Anthony Sanders as First Base Coach.

NEW NUMBER, WHO DIS?: Several members of the 2022 Orioles team will have new jersey numbers for the 2023 season: Kyle Bradish (No. 56 in 2022) is now No. 39…Kyle Stowers switches from No. 83 to No. 28…Terrin Vavra switches from No. 77 to No. 23…Additionally, Offensive Strategy Coach Cody Asche will wear No. 61 after wearing No. 63 in Spring Training.

RISING TIDE: The Orioles are ranked as the No. 1 farm system by MLB Pipeline…Marks the fourth consecutive time between the preseason and midseason lists that the O’s are in the top spot…Since Pipeline began ranking systems in 2015, only one other organization has claimed the top spot four times in a row, and that was the Padres (2018 pre/mid, 2019 pre/mid)…Baltimore is also ranked as the No. 1 farm system by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, as well as in Baseball America’s preseason rankings for the first time since the publication began their Organizational Talent Rankings in 1984… The Orioles have nine prospects in ESPN’s Top 100 (see chart at right), eight in the Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and MLB Pipeline rankings, and six according to FanGraphs…Gunnar Henderson enters the season as the No. 1 overall prospect by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN, FanGraphs, and MLB Pipeline.

GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE RECAP: The Orioles went 16-13-3 in Spring Training, including 10-4-3 at Ed Smith Stadium and 6-9-0 on the road, and finished in fourth place in the Grapefruit League standings…The O’s drew 100,009 fans in 17 dates at Ed Smith Stadium this spring, including three sellout crowds…Marked Baltimore’s first spring with a winning record since 2020 (10-9-3).

2022 IN REVIEW: The Orioles completed the 2022 season with an 83-79 record, finishing in fourth place in the AL East…The O’s secured a winning season for the first time since 2016 (89-73)…The Birds eclipsed their win total from each of the previous four full seasons: 2021 (52-110), 2019 (54-108), 2018 (47-115), and 2017 (75-87)… According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 2022 Orioles are the first team since 1900 to win at least 77 games in a season after losing 110+ games the previous year and only the third team in MLB history to finish with a .500-or-better record after losing 110+ games the prior campaign, joining the 1899 St. Louis Perfectos (39-111 in 1898 to 84-67) and the 1890 Louisville Colonels (27-111 in 1889 to 87-43)…The O’s are the first team in MLB history to win more than 70 games after finishing each of the previous three full seasons (150+ G) with 100+ losses.

STARTING PITCHER

48 KYLE GIBSON RHP

QUICK HITS: Gibson is scheduled to become the 42nd Opening Day starter in Orioles history (since 1954) and the second O’s pitcher in the last four seasons to make his Baltimore debut with a start on Opening Day, joining LHP Tommy Milone (2020)…Marks the second career Opening Day start for the 2021 American League All-Star, who toed the rubber for Texas in the 2021 opener…In 261 career starts, Gibson has pitched to an 89-90 record with a 4.50 ERA (747 ER/1494.1 IP)…The O’s signed Gibson to a one-year contract on December 5, 2022…He has spent time with the Twins, Rangers, and Phillies across 10 Major League seasons.

AGAINST BOSTON: Today will mark Gibson’s ninth career start against the Red Sox; he’s gone 3-4 with a 3.38 ERA (19 ER/50.2 IP) in his first eight career starts against Boston… Opening Day will be his fifth career start at Fenway Park, where he’s gone 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA (5 ER/28.2 IP) and 23 strikeouts.

AGAINST THE AL EAST:In 54 career games (53 GS) against the AL East, Gibson has gone 21-19 with a 4.56 ERA (155 ER/306.0 IP) and 245 strikeouts…Has gone 11-7 with a 4.13 ERA (63 ER/137.1 IP) and 113 strikeouts in 24 road starts against the division…Made only one start against an AL East opponent in 2022, on September 20 vs. Toronto.

DAY ‘N’ NITE: Pitched to a 3-3 record with a 4.79 ERA (41 ER/77.0 IP) and 68 strikeouts in 14 day games in 2022, compared to a 7-5 record with a 5.26 ERA (53 ER/90.2 IP) in 17 night games.

HOME AND ON THE ROAD: In 18 home starts in 2022, Gibson went 7-4 with a 4.57 ERA (52 ER/102.1 IP) and 80 strikeouts, versus 3-4 with a 5.79 ERA (42 ER/65.1 IP) and 64 strikeouts in 13 road starts.

GIBBY, THE GIVER: Gibson is a two-time nominee for the distinguished Roberto Clemente Award (2022 & 2019)…While with the Phillies, he donated to Philabundance, a nonprofit food bank in Philadelphia, and Cradles for Crayons…He also created a Philly Fantasy Football League in support of Help One Now, an organization that supports families in developing countries strike out extreme poverty…Gibson is the Vice President of the Big League Impact, a nonprofit founded in 2013 by Roberto Clemente Award winner Adam Wainwright (2020) to help people meet basic human needs, including food, clean water, medical care, shelter, and education…He was the recipient of the 2017 Carl R. Pohlad Community Service Award selected by the Twins Community Fund Board of Directors.

2022 HIGHLIGHTS: Went 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA (94 ER/167.2 IP) in 31 starts with the Phillies, the fifth time in his career making at least 30 starts in a season…Made his Phillies debut on April 9 vs. Oakland (W, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 10 K)…Made his 250th career start on 7/27 vs. Atlanta… Retired the first 18 batters he faced on 8/5 vs. Washington over eight innings, the longest perfect game bid of his career…Struck out 11 batters on 8/16 at Cincinnati, his second double-digit strikeout game of the season, the most in his career…Gibson’s final nine starts averaged 10.37 K/9…Had a career-best 3.00 K/BB ratio (144 K/48 BB).

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE:Appeared on his fifth career Postseason roster in 2022 with the Phillies and made his World Series debut in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park, working 1.0 scoreless inning out of the bullpen with one hit and one strikeout in Philadelphia’s 7-0 loss to the Houston Astros…In two relief appearances during the 2022 Postseason, he worked 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

2023 SPRING TRAINING: Gibson went 2-0 in Spring Training with a 3.86 ERA (8 ER/18.2 IP) and 15 strikeouts to just one walk in five Grapefruit League starts…His one walk issued is tied for his fewest in a Spring Training season in his career (2018)…Attended his 11th Major League Spring Training.

BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:

FOR THE 123RD TIME: Boston begins its 123rd AL season today…The Red Sox are 59-62-1 all-time on Opening Day (excluding G2 of doubleheaders in 1903, 1948, and 1982). This is the 45th time that the Red Sox have opened the regular season at home (25-19), including the 42nd at Fenway Park (22-19). The Sox have begun the season at home in 3 of the last 4 years (2020, ‘21, ‘23), after doing so in only 4 of the previous 24 years from 1996-2019 (2002, ‘09, ‘10, ‘17).

AT THE HELM: Alex Cora returns for his 5th season as manager of the Red Sox (2018-19, ‘21-23)…He has led the Sox to a 362-286 (.559) record, the 3rd-highest win percentage in franchise history (min. 500 games managed). Cora ranks 9th in Red Sox history in managerial wins (see table on right).

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: In the last 22 seasons (2001-22), teams that go on to win the World Series are 11-11 on Opening Day…In 3 of their last 4 World Series seasons, the Red Sox lost on Opening Day (2004, ‘07, ‘18).

SOX & O’S: This will be the 3rd time in the last 4 years the Red Sox open their regular season against the Orioles, the 14th time overall (6-7 in those games). This is the 5th time the Sox have opened a season vs. BAL at home (also 1956, ‘66, 2020, ‘21).

OPENING ACT: Corey Kluber is making his 6th career Opening Day start (also 2015-19 with CLE)…In the last 10 years (2014-23), the only pitchers with more Opening Day starts are Madison Bumgarner (8) and Max Scherzer (7).

DAY ONE HEROICS: Only once in franchise history have the Red Sox earned a walk-off win on Opening Day…On 4/15/41, they capped off a 7-6 win over the Washington Senators when Joe Cronin drew a bases-loaded walk with 1 out in the 9th inning.

LEADING OFF: The last 2 Red Sox to record a hit in the team’s first plate appearance of a season were Kiké Hernández in 2021 (single) and Dustin Pedroia in 2008 (single). It has been 33 years since the Sox opened a season at home and their first batter of the game recorded a hit
(Wade Boggs on 4/9/90 vs. DET, single off Jack Morris). The only Sox player ever to homer in the team’s 1st plate appearance of a season is Dwight Evans (1986).

FOREVER AND DEVERS: Rafael Devers has started at 3B in each of the Red Sox’ last 5 Opening Day games…The only players with 6 Opening Day starts at 3B for the Sox are Wade Boggs (10), Frank Malzone (9), Jimmy Collins (7), Larry Gardner (6), and Rico Petrocelli (6).

SOX SERVICE: Four players on the Sox’ Opening Day roster or injured list have 10+ years of MLB service: Kenley Jansen (12.073), Chris Sale (12.061), Justin Turner (12.045), and Corey Kluber (10.074).

BATTLE TESTED: Of the 26 players on the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster, 8 have won a World Series title: Ryan Brasier (BOS), Rafael Devers (BOS), Chris Sale (BOS), Kiké Hernández (LAD), Kenley Jansen (LAD), Justin Turner (LAD), Adam Duvall (ATL), and Chris Martin (ATL). In addition, Masataka Yoshida won an Olympic Gold Medal (2021), a Japan Series title (2022), and a World Baseball Classic championship (2023).

TODAY’S STARTER: 28 COREY KLUBER – RHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO AVG WHIP
2022 10-10 4.34 31 31 164.0 79 20 21 139 .274 1.21
CAREER 113-71 3.31 256 251 1586.2 584 160 347 1683 .237 1.11
Made his 10th Opening Day roster, 1st with the Sox (2014-19 CLE, ‘20 TEX, ‘21 NYY, ‘22 TB). Is making his 6th Opening Day start (also 2015-19 with CLE)…In his first 5, went 0-4 with a 4.01 ERA (15 ER/33.2 IP)…Allowed 2 runs over 7.0+ innings in 3 of those 5 outings. In 2022, walked 3.0% of his batters faced, the lowest rate of his career and best in the majors…Was the lowest single-season BB% by a qualified starter in Rays history. Is a 3-time All-Star (2016-18)…Finished in the top 10 in AL Cy Young Award voting in 5 consecutive seasons from 2014-18 with CLE, winning the award in 2014 and 2017. Is 6-4 with a 3.94 ERA (43 ER/96.0 IP) in 16 career starts vs. BAL. Has won his last 4 starts at Fenway Park…In 7 career starts at Fenway, is 4-1 with a 3.53 ERA (17 ER/43.1 IP)…Threw more than 5.0 innings in each of those 7 outings.

MLB Preview: Atlanta Braves (0-0) at Washington Nationals (0-0)

Baseball
MLB

MLB Editor

March 30, 2023

MLB Preview: Atlanta Braves (0-0) at Washington Nationals (0-0)

ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:

TODAY’S GAME: The Braves and Nationals begin the 2023 season this afternoon with the opener of a three-game series…The teams will play 13 total games this season, with the next series coming at Truist Park in Atlanta from June 9-11.

• Since moving to Atlanta in 1966, the Braves have gone 24-33 (.421) on Opening Day, including just a 12-21 (.364) record when starting on the
road…The .421 winning percentage on Opening Day over this span is the third-worst mark in the National League…Only Miami (12-18, .400) and
Philadelphia (22-35, .386) are worse.

• Overall, the Braves are 25-41 (.379) on Opening Day when starting on the road during the modern era (since 1900).

• This season marks the fourth time in the past five years that Atlanta has opened away from its home ballpark, and the 13th such opener in the last 20 seasons…Just four teams in baseball have opened on the road more frequently than the Braves in that span.

• The Braves have lost four straight Opening Day games, combining to score nine total runs in these contests…They lost 6-3 last season, 3-2 in 2021, 1-0 in 2020, and 10-4 in 2019.

• Today marks the sixth time Atlanta will open the season against the Nationals franchise, including the third time on the road…The Braves have gone 2-3 in these five games, including 1-1 on the road… The teams last opened the season against each other in 2016, with Washington winning, 4-3, in extra innings in the last Opening Day at Atlanta’s Turner Field.

• The Braves last opened the season here at Nationals Park in 2011, when Derek Lowe and four Atlanta relievers combined to pitch a five-hit shutout in the Braves’ win, 2-0.

THE ROSTER: The Braves’ 26-man roster consists of 13 pitchers, two catchers, five infielders and six outfielders. … The roster includes seven players who will be wearing a Braves jersey for the first time in their career this year, including C Sean Murphy…The other six are RH Nick Anderson, RH Joe Jiménez, LH Lucas Luetge, RH Michael Tonkin, OF Sam Hilliard and OF Kevin Pillar.

• The oldest player is 39-year-old reliever Jesse Chavez, while Michael Harris II is the youngest at 22 years old.

• Twelve players return from last year’s Opening Day roster, including 2022 All-Stars Ronald Acuña Jr., Travis d’Arnaud, Austin Riley and Max Fried, who is set to serve as the club’s Opening Day starter for the third consecutive year.

• The roster includes three players who made their first Opening Day roster, including LH Dylan Lee and LH Jared Shuster, as well as Harris II, who won the N.L. Rookie of the Year award in 2022 after debuting last May.

DAY GAMES: All three games of this series against Washington, and four of the six games on the road trip, are scheduled to be played in the daytime.

• The Braves went 24-27 (.471) in day games last season, the 12th worst such record in the majors… In night games, however, the Braves led the majors with a .694 (77-34) winning percentage.

• Atlanta had a .778 OPS in night games in 2022, percentage points behind Toronto’s .778 major league-leading mark…The Braves’ daylight OPS
was just .724.

SPRING RECAP: Atlanta closed out its spring slate with a 7-5 win over Boston Tuesday afternoon, and the Braves compiled an 18-10-3 record in Grapefruit League play…Atlanta’s .643 winning percentage this spring was second best in baseball (St. Louis, .708, 17-7-5).

• The Braves batted .282 as a team this spring, best in baseball, and their 180 runs were most in the Grapefruit League.

• 1B Matt Olson paced the majors with eight homers and 18 RBI this spring, while 2B Ozzie Albies ranked third with 16 RBI.

• LH Max Fried did not give up an earned run in Grapefruit League play, going 4-0 in his four starts.

Tonight’s Starting Pitcher García’s Game Log Wisler’s Game Log

54 Max Fried

Today’s Game
• Set to make his first start of the season and the 109th of his career…Will be his 126th appearance.

• Slated to make his third career Opening Day start today after he also started the opener in each of the last two seasons.

• Fried is the first Braves lefty to make consecutive Opening Day starts since Hall-of-Famer Warren Spahn started six straight, 1957-1962.

• Prior to Fried, the last Braves lefty to start Opening Day was Tom Glavine in 2002.

• Fried is one of just five pitchers in baseball to start on Opening Day in each of the last three seasons…Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola has made a majors-most six straight Opening Day starts, while Miami’s Sandy Alcantara, Cleveland’s Shane Bieber and the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole are each set for their fourth consecutive start in their openers.

• He has yet to win a start on Opening Day, going 0-1 with a 5.90 ERA (7 ER/10.2 IP) in his previous two turns.

• His 52 wins over the past four seasons are most in the National League, and most by any left-hander in baseball.

• Only one pitcher, the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole, has more wins than Fried since the start of 2019…Cole has 56 wins.

• Additionally, the Braves have 70 wins in games started by Fried since the beginning of 2019, the most such wins by a pitcher in the National League… Only Cole again, whose teams have won 71 of his starts, has more in the majors.

2022 Recap
• NL Ranks: BB/9.0 IP (2nd, 1.55), bWAR (3rd, 5.9), ERA (3rd, 2.48), HR/9.0 IP (3rd, 0.583), WHIP (8th, 1.014), Innings (9th, 185.1)

• Completed his fourth full major league season and went 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA (51 ER/185.1 IP) in 30 games, all starts..His 185.1 innings stood as a new career-high total.

• Fried’s 2.48 ERA last season was the 10th lowest in Atlanta franchise history (since 1966), and the lowest by any Braves pitcher to qualify for the ERA title since Tom Glavine (2.47) and Greg Maddux (2.22) each had a lower mark in 1998.

• He allowed more than three earned runs in a start just three times this season, and allowed two earned runs or fewer in 24 of his 30 total starts (80%).

• Pitched against the Marlins, September 4 at Truist Park, and went 5.0 hitless innings with one walk and six strikeouts before a rain delay forced his exit…Got the win after Atlanta beat Miami, 7-1.

• The start marked the third time in his career he has carried a no-hitter through 5.0 innings…He also did so on April 19 at the Dodgers earlier this season, and went a career-best 5.2 hitless innings on April 4, 2019 vs. the Cubs.

• Pitched against the Mets, August 6 at Citi Field, and allowed four runs, two earned, over 6.0 innings to take the loss…Was placed on the 7-day concussion IL following the start, and was activated on August 18.

• Took the loss, just his fourth of the season…Also lost to New York on July 11, and the Mets are the only team in baseball that has beaten Fried since April.

• Started on July 16th in Washington, going 7.0 innings and earning the victory in a 6-3 win…Fanned four and did not walk a batter, one start after walking a career high-tying five on July 11 vs. New York (NL).

• The victory was the 50th of his career, and his 10th of the season…Marked the third time the lefty has reached double-digit wins in his career.

• Since the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, just two pitchers have reached at least 50 wins in as few appearances as Fried…Pat Jarvis won 51 of his first 114 games, while Kevin Millwood won exactly 50…They both started over 105 of their first 114 career games.

• Was named to his first career All-Star Game after being selected to the N.L. pitching staff…Joined teammates Ronald Acuna Jr., William Contreras, Travis d’Arnaud, Austin Riley and Dansby Swanson as All-Star selections…He was not active for the game.

• He is the first Braves pitcher to be selected to the game since Mike Soroka in 2019, and the first left-hander from Atlanta to go since Jonny Venters in 2011.

• Went undefeated in the month of June, posting a 2-0 record and 2.16 ERA (8 ER/33.1 IP), while Atlanta won all five of his starts.

• His ERA ranked 12th in baseball, but his 1.91 FIP led the National League and was second lowest in the majors.

Career Recap
• Acquired by the Atlanta Braves along with INF Jace Peterson, OF Dustin Peterson and OF Mallex Smith from the San Diego Padres in exchange for OF Justin Upton and RHP Aaron Northcraft on December 19, 2014

WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:

HAPPY OPENING DAY!
The 2023 season – the Nationals’ 19th in the nation’s capital – begins on on Thursday with an Opening Day matchup against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park…The Nationals are 8-10 on Opening Day, including 4-6 at home and 4-4 on the road.

• Opening Day 2023 will mark the fifth time the Nationals (2005-pres.) have faced the Braves on Opening Day (2008, 2011, 2016, 2021)…Washington is 3-1 in the previous four contests.

OPENING DAY ROSTER
In addition to announcing their 26-man Opening Day roster, the Nationals made the following roster moves:
• Selected the contracts of left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda, infielder Michael Chavis, right-handed pitcher Hobie Harris and right-handed pitcher Chad Kuhl

• Placed right-handed pitchers Víctor Arano (Right Shoulder Strain), Cade Cavalli (Tommy John Surgery), Tanner Rainey (Tommy John Surgery) and Stephen Strasburg (Thoracic Outlet Syndrome) on the 60-day Injured List

• Placed third baseman Carter Kieboom (Right Shoulder Impingement) and catcher Israel Pineda (Right Finger Fracture) on the 10-day Injured list (retroactive to 3/27)

PATRICK’S DAY
Patrick Corbin is scheduled to make his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Nationals this afternoon…It is Corbin’s third career Opening Day start (2023, 2022 and 2018 with ARI).

• Corbin is set to become the fifth Nationals (2005-pres.) pitcher to make multiple Opening Day starts with Washington joining Livan Hernandez (2005-06, 2011), John Lannan (2009-10), Stephen Strasburg (2012-14, 2017), and Max Scherzer (2015-16, 2018-21).

CONGRATS!
Outfielder Alex Call, left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore, right-handed pitcher Hobie Harris, first baseman/designated hitter Joey Meneses and right-handed pitcher Thaddeus Ward made the Opening Day roster for the first time in their careers.

SPRING TRAINING RECAP
The Nationals went 13-12-3 in Grapefruit League action…Some strong performances included:
• Josiah Gray led Major League Baseball with a 0.55 ERA (1 ER/16.1 IP) in five starts…He struck out 14 batters, walked two and did not allow a home run.

• Lane Thomas ranked third in the Grapefruit League with 11 walks

• Alex Call ranked among Grapefruit League hitters in batting average (T6th, .302) and on-base percentage (7th, .381).

• Non-roster invitee Hobie Harris allowed just one earned run on three hits in 10.0 innings (.100 opp. AVG)…He struck out seven batters and issued two walks.

LIKE CLOCKWORK
The Nationals’ average time of game this Spring was just 2:27 in 28 Grapefruit League contests…Washington’s average time of game during Spring Training in 2022 was 3:05…Across all of Major League Baseball, 9.0 inning gametime decreased by 26 minutes in 2023 Spring Training compared to 2022 Spring Training.
• The club’s shortest game was a brisk 2:06 in its final game on March 26 at Miami, while its longest was a 10-7 win over New York (NL) on March 11 that was completed in 3:00

46 PATRICK CORBIN

Left-handed pitcher signed a six-year contract with the Nationals on Dec. 7, 2018…Was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series…Is a two-time National League All-Star (2018, 2013)… Has started at least 30 games for five consecutive full seasons (2017-19, 2021-22), joining Gerrit Cole as the only pitchers since 2017 to accomplish the feat

OPENING DAY
This mark’s Corbin’s third career Opening Day start and second as a member of the Washington Nationals…He was saddled with the loss in last year’s opener, allowing two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 4.0 innings of work on April 7, 2022 vs. New York (NL).

• As a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Corbin earned the win on March 29, 2018 against the Colorado Rockies on Opening Day…He allowed two earned runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.

2023 SPRING TRAINING
Corbin went 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA in five Spring Training starts…He struck out 15 batters and walked just two in 18.0 innings of Grapefruit League action…One start was cancelled due to rain which led to a simulated game in it’s place.

• Corbin’s best start came on March 20 vs. New York (NL) when he tossed 6.0 innings of one-run, five-hit ball…He struck out five and did not walk a batter.

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54 Max Fried

46 PATRICK CORBIN

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