MLB Opening Weekend Recap
Major League Baseball is all the way back. I hope you were able to either make it out to the ballpark to thaw out from the long winter or chill at home and consume as much baseball as possible from your living room. Wherever you enjoyed it from, we can all agree that the best sport in the world is back for the next seven months which means it’s officially the best time of the year. The weekend slate provided us with a lot of exciting games and fun story lines, so it’s time to dive in and break down what happened.
A slugfest in the Bronx sparks controversy
The Yankees opened their season on Thursday afternoon with the Milwaukee Brewers who they would go on to sweep in three games by a combined score of 36-14. Milwaukee pitchers took a beating all weekend as they surrendered 15 home runs while Yankee hitters collectively posted a slash line of .333/.427/.804 (1.231 OPS). Their nine home runs on Saturday broke a franchise record for home runs in a single game, breaking the previous record of eight set on July 31st, 2007. It is the most home runs hit in a game since the Cincinnati Reds hit nine home runs on September 4th, 1999. Their 36 runs are also a franchise record for most runs scored through the first three games of a season. Aaron Judge, reigning two-time MVP and 2025 MVP favorite, got off to a hot start, hitting four home runs of his own which leads the league through the weekend.
The power display from the Yankees lineup was quite the sight to behold considering one of the team’s weaknesses pointed out all offseason was its depth outside of Aaron Judge following the departure of Juan Soto. They had sub-par performances from the Brewers pitching staff to thank, but they can also attribute a lot of their success to their new “torpedo bats” While the bats look funky, they are completely legal as it was confirmed by MLB. The concept of the bat is that more of the wood in the bat is moved closer to the sweet spot which essentially helps hitters to barrel up the ball more often when it lands in that sweet spot. The bat was created by an MIT physicist on the Yankees payroll and has actually been adopted by a few more teams in the league. After this weekend, it’s expected that more teams will buy in. Ironically enough, Aaron Judge was actually not wielding a torpedo bat this weekend, essentially stating that his results over recent seasons with a normal bat speaks for itself and that he doesn’t need the new bat. As long as multiple teams are using the bat concept and are generating more offense, I don’t see the league banning them.
The Padres open the season with a statement sweep
Although the Padres came one game short of beating the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS last year, the Padres seemed to be the punching bag in the NL West all offseason as they missed out on notable free agents. Their biggest signing of the winter came by way of Nick Pivetta who they signed to a four year contract. Because of their inactivity, not a lot of people came into the season very high on San Diego. However, the Padres made quite the statement this weekend.
The Atlanta Braves came into town on Thursday for a four game set, and were looking to make a statement of their own after their season ended in San Diego last year in the NL Wild Card series. Unfortunately for the Braves, San Diego’s pitching staff was lights out. Padres pitchers yielded only seven runs for the entire weekend, all of which came in the first two games of the series as they shutout the Braves on Saturday and Sunday. The newly acquired Pivetta tossed seven innings of one-hit ball on Sunday night while it was Randy Vasquez that delivered six shutout innings on Saturday. The rotation is obviously headlined by Michael King and Dylan Cease, but the dynamic of the rotation completely changes if role players like Pivetta and Vasquez can come through with meaningful performances throughout the year. The bullpen was excellent as expected after it was one of the best in the game in 2024. Padres relievers threw 16 innings throughout the weekend and allowed just one run while Braves hitters managed to hit just .094 against them.
This was just the second time in franchise history that the Padres opened a season on a four game win streak, the last time coming in 1984. A win on Monday night against the Guardians would break the franchise record for longest win streak to start a season.
As for the Braves, this was in fact the 13th time in their franchise’s history in which they opened the season on a four game losing streak. The most recent instance actually came in 2021 - the year they won their most recent World Series. Perhaps a good omen for Atlanta? They move on to Los Angeles for a three game set with the Dodgers before returning to Atlanta for their home opener. The Dodgers have yet to lose a game and if they continue their winning ways against Atlanta, the Braves may find themselves in quite the hole headed into April.
A weekend full of walk-offs in Miami
The outlook for the Marlins coming into the 2025 season wasn’t all too great, but they managed to open the season with a bright spot. They faced off with the Pirates in a four game set which was headlined by what was probably the most star-studded pitching matchup on Opening Day as Paul Skenes took on Sandy Alcantara. Ironically enough, neither start was stellar by any means, but both aces did enough to keep their offenses in the game late. The Marlins would go on to walk it off in the ninth on a single from Kyle Stowers, earning the Marlins the 5-4 Opening Day victory.
The Pirates would go on to take game two, but the Marlins would continue their winning ways via the walk-off on Saturday in a 12-inning marathon capped off by a Dane Myers single. They did it once again on Sunday in much crazier fashion as it was a wild pitch out of the hand of Pirates closer David Bednar that got away from catcher Endy Rodriguez to score the winning run for Miami. Certainly a fun start to the season for the Marlins who are still expected to be bottom-feeders in the NL East, but not a great start for the Pirates who are looking to take the next step forward behind performances from their very young and talented pitching staff.
Top performers of the weekend
Aaron Judge (NYY): 14 PA, 4 HR, 11 RBI, .545/.643/1.818, 2.461 OPS
Wilyer Abreu (BOS): 15 PA, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .700/.800/1.500, 2.300 OPS
Eugenio Suarez (AZ): 17 PA, 4 HR, 7 RBI, .286/.412/1.143, 1.555 OPS
Mackenzie Gore (WSH): 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 12 K
Nick Pivetta (SDP): 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Logan Gilbert (SEA): 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 8 K
