Opening Week Recap

04/05/2023 Opening Week Recap

By: Jeff Yoder

Analyzing New Rules, The Last Unbeaten Team & Who Showed Out in MLB’s Opening Week

Walk-up music, bats cracking, and the sounds of spring are in full swing at ballparks across America. And while much of MLB’s opening week of games has been overshadowed by the Final Four and The Masters, there’s plenty to note from six days of baseball. The league’s new rules have already had a profound impact on the game. There’s a home run leader you never expected. And the Tampa Bay Rays are the league’s last unbeaten team. Let’s round the bases and recap six days of baseball in about 30 seconds, shall we?

 

1st Base: New MLB Rules & Impact

The biggest rule change implemented this week was the new pitch timer that forces pitchers and batters into a 15-second window per pitch. So far, the average game time has been cut by 26 minutes on average. Padres slugger Manny Machado became the first player ejected for arguing the pitch clock yesterday afternoon. And the shift ban and bigger bases, along with pick-off rules related to the pitch clock, seem to boost the stolen base and on-base percentage for offensive players.

 

2nd Base: Bryan Reynolds (4) Leads HR Race

Most teams have played five or six games so far, and while a number of players have multiple home runs, Pirates OF Bryan Reynolds stands alone. The 28-year-old center-fielder has four homers on just nine hits in 21 at-bats. That’s a batting average of .429 and a whopping 1.503 OPS. It’s early, but Reynolds has been Mr. Big Bat in Week 1.

 

3rd Base: Every Team Has At Least 1 Win

The Phillies got their first win last night against the Yankees (4-1), meaning every team in the majors has won at least one game. Their 0-4 start was a bit of a surprise for the team who finished runner-up in last year’s World Series. But as we know with baseball’s 162-game season, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. As for teams who started hot?

 

Home Plate: The Rays Are Throwing Fire

Tampa Bay (5-0) boasts the only undefeated record after one week of games. The Rays gave up just five runs in their first four games before allowing six in last night’s win over the Nationals (10-6). Through four games, their starting pitchers had a collective ERA of 0.39. They’ve outscored opponents 37-11, and the trio of Randy Arozarena (.333 avg, 1 HR, 5 RBIs), Yandy Diaz (.357 avg, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs) and Wander Franco (.400 avg, 1 HR, 5 RBIs) are demolishing opposing pitchers.

 

MLB Quick-Hitters

 

Alcantara’s Complete Game Shutout: Reigning Cy Young winner and Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara tossed a 100-pitch shutout in less than two hours to beat the Twins (1-0).

 

Crew Rake Scherzer in Blowout: The Brewers buried the Mets (9-0) on Tuesday thanks to a trifecta of home runs off Max Scherzer in the sixth inning. Rowdy Tellez, Brian Anderson, and Garrett Mitchell went back-to-back-to-back. Both Anderson and Mitchell went back-to-back again in the seventh frame. It was the third straight game in which Milwaukee scored at least nine runs.

 

McCarthy’s Flip-Catch for the Fans: Catch of the day? That nod belongs to Arizona right-fielder Jake McCarthy who went flipping over the fence to snag a foul ball in the D-Backs’ win over the Padres (8-6).

 

Bonus: Tony Kemp Hits Walk-Off Single for Athletics

 

Photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images