Opening day of baseball (on U.S. soil) brought us back so many of the things that we love. In the early game Detroit closer, Valverde, blew his first save since 2010. After not blowing a save opportunity all of last year, on his way to 49 saves, Valverde blew his first save in his first chance, in the first game. Luckily for the Tigers, Boston has their own relief problems and ended up losing it in the bottom of the 9th, when former Astros closer Melancon allowed 2 runners to reach base and Aceves allowed them to score. In the other games, we had the return of two great pitchers who had been out all of last year due to injury. Johan Santana and Stephen Stasburg both made strong returns to the mound en route to leading their teams to opening day victories. Santana went 5 innings, striking out 5, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks and no runs to score. Strasburg went 7 innings, with 5 k’s, 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 earned run. These are good signs for those of you who drafted these guys. We found that in the absence of Drew Storen, the Nationals have decided to use Brad Lidge as their closer.
In the other games, we had the longest game in opening day history, a 16 inning nail biter between the Indians and the Blue Jays. Some people this year have even picked the Blue Jays to make the playoffs and they started off on the right foot. They scored 3 runs of Indians closer, Perez, in the 9th to tie it, and won it in the 16th with help from a 3 run homerun by J.P. Arenciba, who missed a bunt sign and swung away. Lucky for him it worked out. We had a masterful pitching performance by Roy Halladay. He went 8 innings, striking out 5 and only allowing 2 hits. The Pirates pitching staff nearly matched his performance and kept it close throughout. Bedard went 7 great innings, allowing only 1 run. Miami lost again, this time to Cincinnati and are yet to record a win as the Miami Marlins. Hanley and Stanton still remain hitless.
In the late game we had the Dodgers take on the Padres at Petco Park. Somehow Kershaw found the energy to take the mound. After suffering from a stomach flu, he was unable to keep any food down, but convinced the coach that he could take the mound. He was not his usual dominant self and was only able to go 3 innings, but it’s an attitude that like that separates the good from the great. Matt Kemp started off his season on the right foot, banging in 3 RBIs with help from an oppo field 2 run homerun. However he was out done by Maybin who hit an estimated 455 foot 2 run homerun to keep the game close. In the pitchers paradise that is Petco, we were able to witness two giant homeruns. For those of you that have Kenley Jansen on their roster, he looked very shaky. From his history he tends to start a bit slow, but should get his rhythm soon enough. He was not throwing very hard and continued to throw fastballs. I wouldn’t be worried too much about this as it is still early in the season and it takes time to get that rhythm going.
On the fantasy watch, the White Sox have still not named their closer and from what manager Ventura said, it could be a closer by committee situation. A closer may be named by the end of the game today. Kyle Farnsworth has been put on the DL and the Rays have decided to go on a closer by committee as well, but Peralta might be the one getting most of the opportunities, as he did last year while Farnsworth was out. Perez was extremely shaky in his appearance for the Indians. With Pestano pitching behind him, this will be a situation to watch. I wouldn’t worry about it just yet as it is still early in the season and Perez was injured during spring training and hasn’t been able to get his rhythm yet. Masterson pitched beautifully for the Indians, striking out 10 in 8 innings and only allowing 2 hits, one home run, and one run. If he was not picked up and is on your waiver wire, you should pick him up. Sean Marshall pitched a perfect 9th. Even though it was not a save opportunity, it’s always a good sign when your closer strikes out 2 and allows no runners against the heart of the order. Venters is an interesting pick up. While he is not the closer, he still strikes out a lot of batters, allows very few runners to reach base and allows even fewer runs. While he allowed 2 hits and a walk during yesterday’s game, he allowed no runs and was able to get out of it with 2 strike outs. Frank Francisco got the save opportunity for the Mets and pitched a perfect 9th, and struck out one.
From the hitter standpoint, Colby Rasmus went 0/7 and was unable to break out of his slump from last year. He has the potential to be a great hitter, but until he gets out of his slump he is only someone to keep an eye on. Danny Murphy returned for the Mets after missing the last few months of last season. He continued where he left off, going 2/4. He is a guy who will hit for average, but won’t give you too much more. He does, however, have 1st, 2nd and 3rd base eligibility, which would make him a great guy to keep on your bench. Werth is still not hitting well, he went 0/3 but did walk in a run. The interesting players to watch today will be Jason Kubel and Adam Dunn. Dunn will bat 3rd and if he can get his form back, he would make a great waiver pickup. His stock should be down significantly and he should be available in many leagues due to his horrible season last year. Kubel is slated to be the Arizona starter and has the potential to hit .275, with 25 homerus and 100 RBIs. Arizona is a hitters park and if he stays healthy he should put up good numbers. The only problem is that behind him is Gerardo Parra, who is a gold glover and Kubel isn’t a great defensive player. While Parar does not possess the same offensive ability as Kubel, he is still a capable hitter and hit .292 last year. This will be something to keep your eye on, but Kubel should get the majority of the starts.
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