Greetings, friends. Welcome back to those of you who followed along with the Fantasy Baseball Opener last season. For those of you who are new here, this is where we hang out and talk about what happened in baseball the night before.
Every morning (or most mornings), 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 discuss some top performances. We’ll lament some injuries. We’ll touch on any noteworthy news and updates. We’ll take a peek at the day ahead. We’ll start way too many consecutive sentences with the word “we’ll.” And we’ll have a few laughs along the way.
Also, be sure to check out our NEW SHOW on the FantasyPros Baseball Podcast feed. The Cycle, featuring Ryan Wormeli and yours truly (along with other recurring analysts like Kelly Kirby and Chris Welsh) is a new weekly fantasy baseball show to complement the daily Leading Off offering. We’re stoked about it, and we hope you are, too. Give it a listen, let us know what you think, and leave us a review on Spotify or Apple or wherever you listen to such things.
Have questions or just want to talk baseball? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime. Or even better, join the FantasyPros Discord!
Check out all of our weekly fantasy baseball content 
Fantasy Baseball News & Notes
There were some notable injuries yesterday. We’ll get into those more below in the injuries section. The good news is fantasy managers are finally able to put players on their injured lists! The bad news is we had a bunch more injuries on opening day. Justin Steele, Royce Lewis, Nick Senzel. Brutal.
Corbin Burnes kicked things off by throwing the first pitch of the season and his first pitch as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, and things went swimmingly. He ended the day with 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, and 11 strikeouts. No more need to worry about any of those spring training numbers.
Shane Bieber is back? After a “down” year with some troubling metrics, Bieber came out firing in 2024. He also struck out 11 batters Thursday, going 6 IP with 0 ER, 4 H, and 1 BB.
Pablo Lopez and Tarik Skubal also both got off to strong starts. Lopez went 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 K, while Skubal posted a 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K line.
Tyler Glasnow already has two starts in three games for the Dodgers. He pitched for L.A. in Korea, and since he had plenty of rest, they ran him right back out there yesterday. Through two starts, Glasnow has a 2.45 ERA over 11 IP with 4 H, 5 BB, and 8 K to go with a 1-0 record. Five walks in 11 IP isn’t ideal, but when your WHIP is 0.82, no one is going to worry too much about a few walks.
Nick Martini hit…two home runs Thursday? And drove in five runs. Sure. Should you care? No, probably not. Martini batted eighth yesterday and is 33 years old. He DID hit 21 HR between Triple-A and MLB last season, but he’s someone who is only going to play against righties and has a solid but unremarkable career in the minor leagues. He’s a good story in that he has logged A LOT of years in the minor leagues to keep his dream of playing in the big leagues alive, and he has succeeded in getting a few cups of coffee with the A’s, Cubs, and now Reds. He is unlikely to have a ton of fantasy impact this season, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be happy for him.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.went 3-for-5 with a HR and 5 RBI.
Andrew McCutchen went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. McCutchen is only rostered in 5% of leagues, most of which are likely deeper leagues or OBP leagues, since he posted a .378 OBP with 12 HR and 11 SB last season.
Kyle Freeland allowed 10 (!!) ER on 2.1 IP as the Rockies got absolutely demolished by the Diamondbacks. People are finally starting to give up on Freeland in fantasy after years of rostering him, though he still pops up as a streaming candidate and in NL Only leagues. Do yourself a favor and just avoid him.
Josiah Gray didn’t fare much better, allowing 7 ER on 8 H and 2 BB. The former top prospect is still just 26 years old and posted a 3.91 ERA last season, but that came with a 1.46 WHIP, less than a strikeout per inning, and underlying metrics that indicated his ERA should have been higher than 5.00.
Zach Eflin, my darkhorse candidate for the American League Cy Young Award, had a weird day. He was cruising…until he wasn’t. It looked like he was on his way to a quality start and a chance for a win until the wheels came off in the sixth inning. He allowed three solo home runs on the day and limped away after giving up 6 ER on 6 H and 1 BB while striking out 5 over 5 2/3. I’m still a big believer, and maybe these numbers present an early buy-low opportunity. Yesterday was just a weird day, and he probably should have been pulled much earlier than he was because he sure looked like he was running out of gas despite a moderate pitch count.
Fun!
Earlier in the day on Thursday, the great Sarah Langs mentioned that Tyler O’Neill had homered in four consecutive Opening Day games, which was tied for the MLB record. Well, doggone, he did it again.
Tyler O'Neill and the O stands for #OpeningDay.
He's the first AL/NL player to homer in five straight season openers! pic.twitter.com/UreiPfUNxe
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2024
Oh, and if you want MORE fun. Leading Off returned yesterday. And, well, this happened.
OH MY GAWD pic.twitter.com/FNHpXwzych
— FantasyPros (@FantasyProsMLB) March 28, 2024
Rub Some Dirt On It (Injuries)
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.
- Justin Steele suffers hamstring injury Thursday
- Royce Lewis leaves game with injury Thursday
- Nick Senzel suffers broken thumb
Justin Steele was has a left hamstring strain and will get an MRI tomorrow.
Counsell said Steele will likely go on the injured list. Counsell didn’t want to speculate on whether Steele will only need a minimum IL stint.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) March 29, 2024
More From the News Desk
- Lars Nootbaar (ribs) to take more swings Friday
- Sonny Gray (hamstring) to throw live batting practice Friday
- Amir Garrett signs with Angels
- Jackson Chourio hitting leadoff in MLB debut Friday
- Danny Jansen (wrist) placed on IL
- Nelson Cruz signs 1-day contract to retire with Mariners
- Josh Lowe (oblique) placed on IL
- Jhoan Duran (oblique) placed on IL
- Wander Franco placed on administrative leave
- Anthony DeSclafani (elbow) placed on 60-day IL
- Bryan Abreu placed on restricted list
- J.D. Martinez optioned to Triple-A
- Naoyuki Uwasawa traded to Red Sox
- Jordan Lawlar to undergo thumb surgery
- Alek Manoah ‘likely’ to open season on IL
- Jordan Romano (elbow) placed on IL
- Erik Swanson (forearm) placed on IL
- Noah Song to undergo Tommy John surgery
- Jon Berti traded to Yankees
Studs and Duds
Here are some of the best and worst performances from yesterday.
Studs (Hitters)
| PLAYER | AB | H | R | HR | RBI | SB | BB | K |
| Nick Martini (CIN – LF) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (ARI – LF,DH) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Tyler O’Neill (BOS – LF,CF) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Spencer Steer (CIN – 1B,2B,3B,LF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Conforto (SF – LF,RF) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Freddie Freeman (LAD – 1B) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mitch Haniger (SEA – LF,RF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yandy Diaz (TB – 1B,3B) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Santander (BAL – 1B,RF,DH) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mookie Betts (LAD – 2B,SS,RF) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Studs (Pitchers)
| PLAYER | IP | K | W | QS | SV | ERA | WHIP | ER | H | BB | HR |
| Corbin Burnes (BAL – SP) | 6.0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.50 | 0.17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Shane Bieber (CLE – SP) | 6.0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.83 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Pablo Lopez (MIN – SP) | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.29 | 0.57 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Tarik Skubal (DET – SP) | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.50 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyler Glasnow (LAD – SP) | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.50 | 0.50 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Frankie Montas (CIN – SP,RP) | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.67 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Garrett Crochet (CWS – RP) | 6.0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.50 | 0.83 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Yarbrough (LAD – SP,RP) | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jose Berrios (TOR – SP) | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 1.17 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Zac Gallen (ARI – SP) | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 | 1.00 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Jesus Luzardo (MIA – SP) | 5.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | 0.80 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Cole Ragans (KC – SP,RP) | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1.33 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
Duds (Hitters)
| PLAYER | AB | H | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | BB | K |
| Luis Arraez (MIA – 1B,2B) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Ryan Jeffers (MIN – C) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Christian Encarnacion-Strand (CIN – 1B,DH) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Brendan Donovan (STL – 1B,2B,LF,RF) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ezequiel Tovar (COL – SS) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Zack Gelof (OAK – 2B) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 2 |
| Vinnie Pasquantino (KC – 1B) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Nolan Jones (COL – 1B,LF,RF) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 2 |
| Isaac Paredes (TB – 1B,2B,3B) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Yastrzemski (SF – LF,CF,RF) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 3 |
| Lane Thomas (WSH – CF,RF) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 2 |
Duds (Pitchers)
| PLAYER | IP | K | W | SV | ERA | WHIP | ER | H | BB | HR | L |
| Kyle Freeland (COL – SP) | 2.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 38.57 | 4.71 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Josiah Gray (WSH – SP) | 4.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 15.75 | 2.50 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Alex Wood (OAK – RP,SP) | 3.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 2.40 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Patrick Sandoval (LAA – SP) | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 4.80 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Anthony Molina (COL – SP) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.00 | 21.00 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Stratton (KC – RP) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 4.00 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Kelly (OAK – RP) | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2.50 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Miles Mikolas (STL – SP) | 4.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10.38 | 2.08 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Arm Barn Report
Here is every player who recorded a save yesterday:
- Ryan Yarbrough (LAD – SP,RP)
- Kenley Jansen (BOS – RP)
- Jose Hernandez (PIT – RP)
- Griffin Jax (MIN – RP)
- Jason Foley (DET – RP)
- Robert Suarez (SD – RP)
- Clay Holmes (NYY – RP)
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