Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s OK, though. We’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network, as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
We have our first full slate of baseball today
Monday morning’s Say Hey, Baseball includes the first full day of baseball and Madison Bumgarner’s hitting skills.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
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Sunday served as a great appetizer for baseball fans around the world. After a long offseason that was, admittedly, made better by an exciting World Baseball Classic last month, baseball was finally back. Six teams competed in three games scattered across the day. It was a nice taste of that sweet, sweet baseball we’ve been craving. Now, we get to dive back into the onslaught of baseball around the league that we will soon be used to but (hopefully) never take for granted.
On Monday, all 24 teams that didn’t play on Sunday will kick off their seasons. That, of course, means there are 12 games and they’ll take place over the course of roughly 10 hours. Things kick off at 1:00 p.m. ET with the rebuilding but exciting Braves taking on the World Series-minded Mets. After that, it will be nonstop baseball, with the final game starting at 10:00 p.m ET as the Athletics will take on the Angels.
Another way of looking at this glorious day is that we’ll be kicking things off with Noah Syndergaard throwing the first pitch of the day and Mike Trout participating in the last game. In between, we’ll have games featuring: Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts, Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado, Clayton Kershaw, Miguel Cabrera, Byron Buxton, Billy Hamilton, Francisco Lindor, and Carlos Correa. All of those players will be in different games. Seems pretty good, to be quite honest. Buckle up, because today is the first of many full days of baseball to come. And it couldn’t come soon enough.
- Morgan Moriarty took the traffic-filled ride to SunTrust Park after the road collapse on I-85 to check out the Braves’ new stadium.
- It’s a new year, but Madison Bumgarner is still destroying baseballs at the plate. Oh, and that was his second of the night, making him the first pitcher to ever hit two dingers on Opening Day. Ho hum.
- Despite Bumgarner’s power at the plate and mostly dominant day on the mound, the Diamondbacks pulled off a miracle ninth inning win on the backs of Jeff Mathis and Daniel Descalso. Oh, baseball. How I missed you.
- That wasn’t the only walkoff of the day, either.
- Need to catch up on the league but don’t have much time? Here’s a couple sentences for each team in baseball.
- It’s not as big a deal as the Yadier Molina extension, but the Indians just locked up their catcher for the next four years.
- No one believes in the Royals heading into the season. That just might be how they like it, though.
- Tyler Cravy was optioned by the Brewers on Sunday, and he wasn’t too pleased about it.
- In a puzzling move, the Rockies designated Miguel Castro for assignment. He is a promising young arm who was one of the key return pieces in the Troy Tulowitzki trade.
- Melvin Upton was released from the Blue Jays roster over the weekend, and the Tigers need a center fielder. Could there be a match?
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