Greetings, friends. We’re back for another baseball season. More importantly, we have a fun new series this year!
Welcome to the Daily Opener.
Every morning, I’ll be with you to recap the previous day of baseball and talk about what stood out to me. We’ll find fun stats. We’ll lament some injuries. We’ll take a peek at the day ahead. And we’ll have a few laughs.
Have questions or just want to talk baseball? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime. Whenever we won’t have a Daily Opener that day (if we’re being honest with each other, there are going to be days when I can’t do it), I’ll mention it on Twitter.
Top Stories
Jose Berrios got LIT UP on Friday. He threw 34 pitches, recorded exactly one out, and allowed four earned runs on three hits and two walks in a no-decision against the Rangers. If you hung out in the FantasyPros Discord this offseason, you knew I was fading Berrios in 2022. But this isn’t a victory lap. I think Berrios will be generally fine this season, and victory laps after bad performances and injuries aren’t cool. Don’t do that. Celebrate good performances and positive developments. Don’t delight in struggles or negativity. Anyway, my fade was more about the price tag than anything else. I know Berrios has these outings in him, but his price this offseason didn’t account for them or the fact that he’ll spend a lot of time pitching against AL East teams in AL East ballparks, in my opinion.
Sean Manaea threw seven no-hit innings against the Diamondbacks but didn’t come back out for the eighth inning. This comes one day after Yu Darvish was lifted after six no-hit innings. Yesterday, I said I hated the Darvish decision. I hate this one even more. Manaea had only thrown 88 pitches and was six outs away from a no-hitter. I get that it’s early April, but let these kids chase history!
Javier Baez hit a walk-off home run that was originally called an out but was then overturned. MLB umpires are announcing reviews to the crowd this season in the same way that NFL officials do. Part of me will miss the ridiculousness of the home plate umpire silently circling his finger in the air to indicate a home run after a review while the entire stadium tries to figure out what’s happening, but I like the change.
Aaron Judge and Rafael Devers did not agree to contract extensions with the Yankees and Red Sox prior to the self-imposed Opening Day deadline. Judge will be a free agent after the season, while Devers is still under team control for one more season. While the Red Sox absolutely need to lock up Devers, I agree with the Yankees being at least somewhat cautious in their negotiations with Judge. Judge turns 30 in a few weeks and has dealt with multiple injuries over the last few years. He’s also enormous (he’s 6’7″ and somewhere around 280 pounds) and may not have the kind of body type that ages gracefully.
Word on the street is the Yankees offered Judge a seven-year, $213-ish million offer, Judge is seeking something more like nine years and $324 million. First off, a nine-year deal for a player who will be 31 at the beginning of next season is borderline laughable, especially when that player already had trouble staying healthy in his 20s. That seven-year offer is more than fair, and (potential hot take alert) I’m not sure even that contract would be the best investment.
Fun!
This is the fun stats section, but the aforementioned Jose Berrios would presumably not find this stat fun:
José Berríos has tied Blue Jays' team record for shortest outing as the team's Opening Day starting pitcher:
Mark Bomback, 0.1 IP, 1982
Dave Lemanczyk, 0.2 IP, 1980
To Underwood, 1.2 IP, 1979
Chris Carpenter, 2.1 IP, 2002
Todd Stottlemyre, 3.2 IP, 1990
Lemanczyk, 3.2 IP, 1978— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) April 9, 2022
Rub Some Dirt On It (Injuries)
- Xander Bogaerts left Friday’s game against the Yankees with an apparent hamstring injury, but he believes he’s fine and could return to the lineup as early as today.
- Francisco Lindor was the big injury from last night. That Mets-Nationals game got pretty intense, and Lindor was hit in the face by a pitch just one day after Pete Alonso also took a ball to the face. Lindor left the game, but X-rays were negative. He may get a day off on Saturday, but it looks like Lindor and the Mets dodged a bullet.
- Lucas Giolito left his start on Friday after four shutout innings with what is being called abdominal tightness. Giolito was one of my favorite pitchers to target in drafts and auctions this offseason, and I have a ton of shares. Here’s to hoping he’s OK.
Update: Shortly after I wrote the above Giolito note, White Sox manager Tony La Russa announced that Giolito is headed to the injured list.
Studs and Duds
Here are some of the best and worst performances from yesterday.
Studs (Hitters)
- Kyle Tucker – 2-for-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI
- Jeff McNeil – 3-for-4, 1 HR, 2RB, 1 BB
- Teoscar Hernandez – 1-for-2, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R
- Jacob Stallings – 2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI
- Travis d’Arnaud – 2-for-4, 3 RBI, 1 R
- Starling Marte – 2-for-5, 3 RBI, 1 2B
Studs (Pitchers)
- Sean Manaea – 7 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 7 K in win over Diamondbacks
- Robbie Ray – 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 5 K in win over Twins
- Logan Webb – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K in no-decision vs. Marlins
- Max Scherzer – 6 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K in win over Nationals
Duds (Hitters)
- Joey Gallo – 0-for-4 with 3 Ks
- Matt Chapman – 0-for-4 with 3 Ks
- Alex Kirilloff – 0-for-4 with 3 Ks
- Eugenio Suarez – 0-for-4 with 3 Ks
- C.J. Abrams – 0-for-4
- Jonathan India – 0-for-5
- Gary Sanchez – 0-for-4
Duds (Pitchers)
- Jose Berrios – 0.1 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB in no-decision against Rangers
- Frankie Montas – 5 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K in loss to Athletics
- Kyle Freeland – 3.2 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K in loss to Dodgers
- Gerrit Cole – 4 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K in no-decision against Red Sox
Cole gave up all three runs in the first inning and then settled in. He opened up the game with a four-pitch walk to Kike Hernandez and then a two-run home run to Rafael Devers, and his command was all over the place early.
From the News Desk
We have an incredible news desk at FantasyPros. Seriously, they crush it. If you don’t already, you should sync your teams with My Playbook and check out the Fantasy News and Scores app for updates about your players. Here are some of the most recent fantasy-relevant headlines.
- Justin Upton officially released by Angels
- Roansy Contreras called up from AAA
- Francisco Lindor’s X-rays negative for fracture
- Xander Bogaerts leaves game with hamstring injury
- Lucas Giolito leaves start early with abdominal tightness
- Edwin Diaz to be placed on bereavement list
Arm Barn Report
- Matt Barnes? The Red Sox used six relievers on Friday in a game that went 11 innings. Matt Barnes was not one of them. Garret
- Liam Hendriks blew his first save opportunity of the season and was also tagged with the loss.
These players recorded saves yesterday:
Craig Kimbrel
Brooks Raley
Taylor Rogers
Jordan Romano
Drew Steckenrider
These players were all charged with blown saves yesterday:
Garrett Whitlock
Matt Wisler
Adam Cimber
Anthony Bender
Liam Hendriks
Camilo Doval
Some of my favorite MLB Prop Bets for today from the @BettingPros Prop Bet Cheat Sheet:
⬆️ Sonny Gray OVER 4.5 Ks (-155 on DK)
⬆️ German Marquez OVER 3.5 Ks (-160 on DK)
? Connor Joe UNDER 1.5 total bases (-149 on BetMGM)
⬆️ Joey Votto OVER 0.5 total bases (-155 on DK)— mike Maher. (@mikeMaher) April 9, 2022
Dingers
Here is every player who homered yesterday:
Kyle Tucker
Teoscar Hernandez
Jacob Stallings
Seth Brown
Jeff McNeil
Aledmys Diaz
Mitch Garver
Kyle Schwarber
Jurickson Profar
Jazz Chisholm
Alex Bregman
Josh Bell
Anthony Rizzo
Rafael Devers
Mitch Haniger
Jose Altuve
Jeremy Pena
Danny Jansen
Brandon Belt
Chad Pinder
DJ LeMahieu
Joey Bart
Adolis Garcia
Anthony Santander
Brad Miller
Eric Haase
Gio Urshela
Thairo Estrada
Andrew Vaughn
Giancarlo Stanton
Swipes
Today’s Starting Lineup
Here’s what I’m watching today.
- We have several Saturday afternoon games today! You. Love. To. See. It.
- The two nationally televised (or somewhat nationally televised?) games today are Red Sox vs. Yankees on FS1 and Dodgers vs. Rockies on ESPN+.
- Justin Verlander and Noah Syndergaard face off tonight in Los Angeles (or wherever the Angels actually play), and I’m looking forward to seeing both of them on the mound again.
- The AL Central might be a fun race to watch this season, and Dylan Cease faces Casey Mize this afternoon in Detroit.
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Mike Maher is an editor and content manager at FantasyPros and BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive, follow him on Twitter @MikeMaher, and visit his Philadelphia Eagles blog, The Birds Blitz.
