The Week In Baseball: Opening Week

March has come and gone but with March comes baseball and the MLB is back in full swing, no pun intended. Outside of the A’s and Mariners, every team opened their season on Thursday. Opening Day is the best day in the season to overreact to every pitch, hit, and game but that adds to the fun of the event.

Plenty happened over the first weekend of the season. Here’s a recap of what happened and what you may have missed:

Dodgers Opening Day power

The Los Angeles Dodgers wasted no time to show they’re still the team to beat in the National League. Los Angeles opened their 2019 campaign against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday with a 12-5 win. 11 of the teams 12 runs came way of the long ball as the Dodgers hit eight total home runs setting a new Opening Day record and tying the team record for most home runs in a game. Kike Hernandez and Joc Pederson led the way with two while Austin Barnes, Corey Seager, Max Muncy, and Cody Bellinger had to settle for just one. Los Angeles now has 14 home runs on the season and only three other teams (Seattle, St. Louis, and Milwaukee) have more than eight home runs through their first series.

Welcome to Philadelphia, Bryce Harper

While his debut with the Phillies could have gone better, Bryce Harper endeared himself to Philadelphia fans during his second career game with the Phillies on Saturday. After his 0-for-3 debut, the 26-year-old followed up with a 1-for-3 performance on Saturday but that one hit was a big one. Harper took a 93 MPH fastball from Jesse Biddle and drove it 465 feet.

THERE IT IS!

Bryce Harper's first HR with the Phillies is DESTROYED! pic.twitter.com/6j46ryKRLr

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 30, 2019

Harper would hit another moon shot on Sunday night en route to a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves.

Christian Yelich having no problems following up his MVP season

Christian Yelich had a very good 2017 season and that’s an understatement. The 27-year-old hit a career-high .326 with a 1.000 OPS with 36 home runs, winning the NL MVP last season. It appeared Yelich didn’t miss a beat during the off-season and could be on his way to another MVP after his first four games of the season. The Brewers took on the Cardinals to open the season and in 18 plate appearances, Yelich went 6-for-12 with four home runs, a double, eight RBI, and six walks. He hit one home run in each game, tying a record for most consecutive games with a home run to open the season. He also did something no other reigning MVP has ever done:

.@ChristianYelich is the first reigning #MVP to homer in 4 consecutive games to start a season. pic.twitter.com/T9kK9nEomZ

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) March 31, 2019

Do you feel old yet?

Elvis Luciano entered the Toronto Blue Jays game on Sunday and threw 1.1 innings allowing two base runners and striking out one. Luciano broke a Blue Jay record becoming the youngest player to appear in a game in franchise history at the age of 19. Luciano was born on February 15, 2000, making him the first player to be born in the new millennium to appear in a major league baseball game. It’s a trend that will obviously continue as time moves on but it’s startling that A.) there’s a player who was born in 2000 in the MLB and B.) the year 2000 was 19 years ago.

 

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