2019 MLB Season Thread

[WestPhillyPunisher]

A few observations from Opening Day:

--Manny Machado and Bryce Harper both went 0-3 with two strikeouts in their debuts, but their teams won, the Fathers shut out San Francisco 2-0 while the Phillies pounded Atlanta 10-4

--the Dodgers set an Opening Day record by hitting EIGHT homers in a 12-5 romp over Zack Greinke and Arizona

--Seattle treated Boston's best hurler, Chris Sale like a batting practice pitcher as the Mariners walloped the Red Sox 12-5

--For the first time since 1970, opposing pitchers each fanned 10 as Jacob deGrom outdueled Max Scherzer in a 2-0 Mets win over Washington

[Scott Taylor]

Another thing I'll note - the Brewers and Lorenzo Cain are at it again with a last minute save of a home run in the bottom of the ninth.

[GindyPosts]

I assume that Tropicana Field will reduce capacity to 20,000 in a few seasons. The Rays' inability to build a new stadium (be it in Ybor City or in downtown Tampa) will ultimately see the team relocate in a few years, and the site of Tropicana Field be demolished for real estate assets like apartments and eateries. I hate saying that, but the state of Florida is not going to help pay for a new stadium after what Jeffery Loria did with Marlins Park, plus the resistance some communities likely have may keep the Ybor City project from ever happening.

[Joker]

M’s dump one late to the Sox. Much like the Red Sox, our bullpen isn’t great, and if I had one criticism to make of Servais, it’s his bullpen management.

[MRP]

Harper goes deep for his first hit with the Phillies, and got a curtain call from fans.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My Phillies completed a sweep of Atlanta with a 5-1 on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball last night. Jake Arrieta was a tad erratic, walking six but only allowed one run, meanwhile, Andrew McCutcheon and Bryce Harper went deep again, that's eight homers for the team in the first three games. Now, onto to Washington!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts is getting paid, $132 million through 2025:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/...025/ar-BBVthyU

[Joker]

The Mariners are 6-1... wait, what?!

Félix was pretty effective tonight, but errors behind him allowed a few runs, unfortunately.
The infield needs to get it together. So many errors, but the bats have kept us afloat.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Bryce Harper returns to Washington with the Phillies for a brief two game series tonight. Should be interesting to see the reaction by Nationals fans to their former star.

[Joker]

My Harper fatigue is strong! Haha!

[Hiromi]

Braves finally got their first win last night for the home opener shellacking the Cubs 8-0, also of note is that they extended Ronald Acuna Jr for 8 years at 100 million, obviously a big step up from his half a million salary last year but still a great deal for a player like him. With two club options this might be the best 10 year deal on a player in MLB history if Acuna keeps developing

[Joker]

That’s pretty club friendly if he turns into what people hope he does.

[MRP]

Kevin Pillar just traded from the Blue Jays to the SF Giants in a 4 player deal. Pillar is one of the top defensive outfielders and should help in that big field in SF, but he is not a strong offensive player. Jays got a utility infielder, a bullpen arm and a pitching prospect in return. It's the second veteran the Jays have dealt in the past week, as they moved Kendrys Morales last week. Looks like they are making room for their kids to play and trying to shed some salary in the process.

-M

[MRP]

That’s pretty club friendly if he turns into what people hope he does.

Only 1 MLB player who hit 25 home runs before age 21 as Acuna did last season hasn't made the Hall of Fame, and that was Tony Conigliaro who got beaned in the head early in his career and was never the same player after that. The others in that select club are Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Al Kaline, Orlando Cepeda and Eddie Mathews. So history is kind of on the side of Acuna being something special.

-M

[Joker]

I believe he’s the real deal, so I’m surprised he signed such a team friendly contract. The length more than the money.