Oh, how glorious Opening Day truly was. Thirteen games were played, teams quickly catapulted into first or last place and we can say a bunch of players are on pace for 162-homer seasons. Baseball has returned to our lives once more, promising us excitement each and every day from now until the end of October.
Drawing strong conclusions from a tiny sample size may be a fool's errand, but why not give it a whirl? Fan bases spent the offseason full of hopes, dreams and fears, but Thursday was the first day any of those could manifest in a meaningful way. So here were the six takeaways from a one-game sample size that really may have been omens for the season as a whole.
The Dodgers really are as terrifying as we thought
In their first home game as a trio, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman went a combined 5-for-8 with two homers, four RBI and three runs scored. The only thing that went even remotely wrong was Ohtani catching up to Betts on the bases and getting tagged out, but then the Dodgers scored two runs that inning anyway.
We know this team will be under a microscope from start to finish. The investigations into the Ohtani/Ippei Mizuhara illegal bookmaking wire transfers will bring in new sets of eyes just looking out for drama. But Thursday was a reminder that these guys, when put together, are ridiculously good at baseball. They have a chance to do special, perhaps unprecedented things together this season in Dodger blue.
The best vibes in MLB belong to Baltimore
Let's ignore, for a moment, the fact the O's clobbered the Angels on the field Thursday, winning 11-3 even after Mike Trout hit the first homer of the MLB season. The atmosphere at Camden Yards was positively electric, the fans couldn't be more positive about the direction of their team and overall franchise.
It started early in the day with ownership buying beers for fans before the game at a nearby bar, video via the Orioles on X (formerly Twitter). It carried over into Corbin Burnes' electric first start, featuring 11 punchouts in six innings. And the levee broke when Anthony Santander crushed a two-run bomb, turning the game into a true laugher. Last summer was one long party at Camden Yards, but this year's party could be the rare sequel that trumps the original.
The defending champs have the game's deepest lineup in MLB
This is a particularly bold claim because there are some ridiculous lineups in MLB right now. The Braves can drop Michael Harris II to the nine-hole whenever they please. We already know about the ludicrousness of the Dodgers' core. You could even make a case for the Astros. But the reigning champion Rangers, who walked off the Cubs in extras, might just take the cake.
Evan Carter, the wunderkind who did nothing but hit after being called up for the World Series run, batted eighth. Superprospect Wyatt Langford chipped in with his first career hit and RBI. Then All-Star catcher Jonah Heim decided to mess around and smoke a walk-off single into the gap. With Semien, Seager and Garcia, the latter of whom had a homer and an epic bat flip, Texas has the high-end potential to compete with absolutely anybody.
Maybe the D-Backs need to be taken even more seriously this season
Listen, it's the Rockies. This won't be the last time Colorado's abysmal pitching staff gives up double digit runs. But what the D-Backs accomplished Thursday night commands respect—and proves they're not interested in settling for another 84-win season and an underdog mentality come October.
In the third inning, Arizona scored 14 runs. Yes, 14. That was a franchise record for runs in a single inning, and they did it without the benefit of a single home run. They spent the offseason telling everyone through their acquisitions that they were very serious about contending for the foreseeable future. That offensive performance was the D-Backs, who some thought might fall right back to fourth place in the West, throwing down the gauntlet for the rest of the NL: Hey, we're the champs. The road to the World Series runs through us.
The Yankees offense is no longer a punchline
Through four innings, it looked like deja vu all over again for the Yankees and their fans at Minute Maid Park. The Yanks had grounded into three inning-ending double plays, including two with the bases loaded. All the nightmares of the 2023 season, where New York's offense was bottom five in most statistical categories, were coming back to life. Until all of a sudden, the script was flipped.
The Yankees scored three in the fifth, one each in the sixth and seventh, then hung on by the skin of their teeth thanks to Juan Soto's perfect throw to nab Mauricio Dubon at home plate, video via the Yankees on X. It wasn't just that they scored—the Yankees finally had team-first at-bats. They drew nine walks on the day, including six against Framber Valdez. Oswaldo Cabrera, who was abysmal in 2023, hit the game-tying solo home run. This was by no means a guarantee the boys in pinstripes will be title contenders in 2024, but it was a sign they need to at least be taken seriously once again in MLB.
Oneil Cruz is no one's second fiddle
In the summer of 2022, when Oneil Cruz was shattering Giancarlo Stanton's Statcast records, it was unfathomable to think that in a year's time, there would be another larger-than-life, freakishly athletic, shortstop named Cruz in the NL Central that everyone would be talking about. But now that the Buccos' Cruz is back, he's sending an early message that his gifts on the diamond are in no way less magnificent than his counterpart on the Reds.
After leading all of baseball in Spring Training homers, Cruz stepped to the plate against Sixto Sanchez in the eighth inning and delivered the game-tying solo shot to straightaway left field. It was the kind of swing most lefties only dream about, a high, outside fastball that Cruz somehow found the top hand strength on to generate perfect backspin to the opposite field. It was a one-of-a-kind home run to kick off what could be a one-of-a-kind season for the Pirates' forgotten phenom.
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