April 4, 2017

What You Need to Know

Opening Day Part Deux

by Jared Wyllys

The Tuesday Takeaway

Rougned Odor’s helmet looks like it has been through some stuff, man. After just Opening Day, it already looks like an homage to the grimy character of the domes found on Vladimir Guerrero and John Kruk.

It's opening day and Roughned Odor's helmet has already lived a thousand seasons. pic.twitter.com/6Pqm8bAn9s

— Mike Oz (@mikeoz) April 4, 2017

Meanwhile, from the fifth spot in the Rangers’ order, Odor popped off two home runs, the first guy to homer twice on Opening Day since ... Madison Bumgarner. Yesterday. Opening Day is so nice it has now been stretched into two days, and that’s just fine. America could probably use an extra day at the ballpark right now.

Both of Odor’s dingers came off Corey Kluber, who also gave one up to Carlos Gomez, but who went on to pitch six innings and strike out six anyway.

Whether the two home runs were in tribute to the two horses Odor had included in his six-year, $49.5 million contract with the Rangers is unclear, but we will imagine that’s the case and maybe one day tell our kids that it was, and with enough time, we will wind up believing it ourselves.

In spite of the trio of home runs, the defending American League champions thundered back, ultimately knotting up the contest in the eighth inning on Edwin Encarnacion’s bomb off Matt Bush, and then eventually heaping up on Rangers reliever Sam Dyson in the ninth inning on their way to an 8-5 win.

Quick Hits From Monday

Not that Clayton Kershaw needed a lot of help, but Joc Pederson hit a third-inning grand slam to boost the Dodgers to a 5-1 lead over the hapless Padres.

San Diego did muster two additional runs themselves, but also gave up nine more to the Dodgers, so I doubt they feel vindicated. Sometimes life is like that, though. Sometimes you’re the Padres facing Clayton Kershaw, and his offense spots him two touchdowns. Sometimes life is cruel.

The Orioles had themselves a day. Not only did Mark Trumbo hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning ...

... Manny Machado did this, too.

The Red Sox held off a ninth-inning Pirates rally, and Andrew Benintendi hit a three-run homer and allowed himself just a flash of celebration as he rounded second base.

But don’t let all of that distract you from the fact that Tom Brady’s jersey was stolen, and while he was at Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch, this happened:

The NFL is weird, but people seem to enjoy it anyway.

And Mike Trout homered last night, too. And grass is green and your taxes are due soon and the wheel in the sky keeps on turning.

Defensive Play of the Day:

Who wants a snow cone? Charlie Blackmon served one up in Milwaukee whilst crashing against the center field wall at Miller Park. The unadulterated ballsiness of this catch is reason enough to give us all pause.

What to Watch on Tuesday:

The White Sox and Tigers were rained out at newly-dubbed Guaranteed Rate Field yesterday, but starters Jose Quintana and Justin Verlander never warmed up, so they will both be taking the hill this afternoon.

The Yankees lost their first game of the season and have not won on Opening Day since 2014, and they will have to contend with the Rays' no. 2 starter Jake Odorizzi to avoid going a ghastly 0-2 to start the season.

The Cubs and Cardinals injected some late-night pizazz Sunday, and today Jake Arrieta and Adam Wainwright toe the rubber in the second game of this series. Arrieta looks to regain some of this 2015 magic, and after starting on Opening Day for five consecutive years, Wainwright hopes to follow Carlos Martinez’s dazzling performance on the way to ensuring at least an opening series win.

It’s just the first two days of the first week, and the best thing is that there are weeks and weeks and weeks left to go.

Jared Wyllys is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @jwyllys
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