Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the week is
finally here. Thursday, March 27th is opening
day. Kenji and I in this episode are going to
break down all of the matchups for opening day.
So all the pitching matchups, what it means for
each team to get off to a hot start besides.
getting off to a hot start. So we're going to
go match up as they happen throughout the day.
So we're going to start with the earliest games
and we're going to finish with the latest games
and just briefly touch on what we're looking
forward to most, what matchups you're most excited
for, the pitchers that are going to be on the
line. We're so excited. It's opening day week.
It's opening day week. Kenji's going to be in
Kansas City. I'm going to be in Toronto. Amazing
baseball is about to kick off. So Kenji, first
of all, how are you doing on this fine Saturday
we're recording, Sunday we're releasing? I'm
doing pretty good. Just watching Royals Rangers
play right now. It's been a couple days since
I've gotten to just sit down, just be a degenerate
and watch a Royals game. Mainly because they're
never streamed. And I never have time to just
sit in the middle of the day. So it's been quite
nice. My sister walked in and she said, are you
okay? I'm like, yeah, I'm fine. She goes, you
look dead. I'm like, no, I just finally get to
relax. I just get to just sit back and relax,
which I don't know. I don't feel like I've had
the opportunity to in a while. Besides when we
were in St. George, but no, it's been great.
I think Jonathan India just went yard. Nevermind.
He flied out. It's a good day. I'm excited to
talk about opening day. We we've been waiting
for this day for. Since game five of the world
series. That too, and also since fantasy baseball
ended, which is the end of regular season baseball.
So we're excited for today's show. I cannot express
how much I love opening day. It is, I was talking
to my wife about it. She wasn't very thrilled
that I made this comparison, but I said, my favorite
day of the year is our anniversary, without a
doubt. Second favorite day of the year is opening
day. And she was like, really? really it's your
face second favorite and i was like yeah it is
i think i think you could say it's your favorite
day because you haven't celebrated your anniversary
so technically you have no idea what your anniversary
is like which means it's impossible to rank it
above oh man baseball i'm gonna get you killed
yeah you are um but opening day we had the first
day of spring the Calendar -wise last week, but
opening day in my mind is the official start
of spring because we have baseball starting.
That means warm weather is on its way. It's a
symbolic end of the winter. It's glorious. It's
glorious, even though we're going to have teams
in the Midwest playing in the cold. I'm curious,
though. Yeah, go ahead. Before we go into the
schedule, you've been to how many opening day
games, would you say? Just one. Just last year.
Just last year. And what was that experience
like compared to another game or just watching
opening day on TV for you? It's just, there's
just a different buzz to it. I mean, and part
of it was a cathartic experience for me because
that was the first time I've been able to go
back to Baltimore since I moved, you know, eight
years ago. And so on top of being able to go
see my old home, but also being able to watch
the O's play, I'm a diehard fan. I follow every
game. It was just incredible. The environment,
even though it was cloudy, it was overcast, a
little cool that day. But getting to see old
friends at the stadium, getting to go, like I
stay at the hotel right next to Pickles Pub,
which is like the bar that's right across the
street from the stadium that everybody hangs
out at. So to be walking around in that environment.
And see the excitement on the fans, watch all
the players get introduced and run down the orange
carpet that they do in Baltimore and the national
anthem, screaming the O. And it's just kind of
like I said, it's the symbolic end of the winter.
It was an experience unlike any other. And that's
why I decided to go to Toronto this year is because
as long as I can do it before I have kids, whatever
the logic may be, I'm always going to try to
do opening day because it's that cool. It's that
cool. I've been to playoff baseball games. I've
been to college games. I've been to regular season
MLB games. And playoff games are their own beast,
but opening day is incredible. It's incredible.
So I'm excited for you to get to experience it
yourself because I think you're going to feel
similarly. It's just a blast. Exciting stuff,
but let's dig into the schedule. Okay, so first
matchup of the day, 3 -0 -5 Eastern. In the Bronx,
we have Brewers at Yankees. We have Freddy Peralta
against Carlos Rodon. No Max Freed in this game
because they're trying to line up everybody's
schedule. What stands out to you about this game,
and where's your early lean on opening day, Freddy
Peralta, Rodon? It'll be cold in the Bronx from
everything I can find. What are you thinking
about this one? I mean, initial thought, you're
like, oh, my gosh. Carlos Rodon is starting.
This is going to be terrible. He's terrible.
He's a terrible pitcher. I said terrible three
times in a row. Yeah, you did. He honestly, last
year, looked pretty good. He got a lot of crap
for a couple of the games that he had. But overall,
I would say last year was a really successful
year for Rodon. I remember he pitched a pretty
good playoff game as well. I can't remember which
one it was. I mean, I honestly would have the
Yanks winning the game. I expressed to you and
to our fantasy group that I'm not the biggest
Freddy Peralta fan. I think he's pretty overrated.
Whenever I watch him pitch, I don't get it. I
mean, he has a wicked, I think, curveball. But
I've never been impressed watching him pitch.
I think he's overhyped. And so I have a lot more
to throw it on. I think Yankees. Do we have,
like, score projections? No. I mean, I could
try to find a spread. I just have the matchups,
though. I mean, while we're talking, I can find
it. Keep spitballing about how much you hate
Freddy Peralta while I find this. Yeah, I'm not
a big Freddy Peralta, guys. But I'm a big fan
of the Brewers' lineup, at least the top of their
lineup. You got Churio, Yelich, Contreras, Garrett
Mitchell, who I've heard a lot of good things
about. We're just waiting to... to see him put
it all together. Reese Hoskins, I think, has
like six home runs this spring. So, you know,
if you're buying this spring training hype, the,
what, 35, six -year -old first baseman, maybe
he's going to be good. Bryce Turing steals a
lot of bases. Jory Ortiz, who knows? Sal Frelick's
fun. And Oliver Dunn, I've never heard of him.
So, we'll see. I got the money lines. Yankees
minus 164. So none of them are going to be that
wild of a spread just because like it's opening
day, it's baseball. Meaning you bet a hundred
dollars, you win 64 in return. I believe is what
that is. I can try it really fast. If I wager
a hundred dollars on this, I'll win $61. So you
wager a hundred bucks, you win 61. If you bet
on the Yankees, Brewers are plus 138. So essentially
all you need to know, fans that are listening,
is Brewers are underdogs in this game and the
Yankees are favorites. I think that's pretty
good. There's no spread out for the game. But
Yankees in the Bronx, opening day, first game
of the season in the United States, I like Yankees
to win that ballgame. Oh, yeah. I think a better
lineup too. Yeah, it'll be fun to watch Judge
play and Cody and Goldschmidt. But I am stoked
to see Chirio. Chirio gets his matchup against
the lefty. It'll be fun to watch Jackson go to
work. Oh, yeah. And Jelich will be back, right?
Yes, he's going to be starting. Sweet. He'll
be all okay now. Moving right down the list,
the next team, the one that I will be at is Orioles
at Blue Jays. Zach Eflin against Jose Barrios.
O's are slight favorites, not as big of favorites
as the Yankees were against the Brewers, but
O's are slight favorites. Blue Jays just barely
an underdog. I mean, you know where I'm going
to line up on this one. Give me your opinion
on this game, what it means for both squads,
what you're excited to watch about this one.
I'm a little worried that Gunner's not there,
probably, on opening day. Because I don't know
who leads off for you guys. And I don't know
who's a reliable bat, besides Adley, at the moment.
It's all kind of up in the air. I mean, Gunner
is the guy, and I would say Adley is the next
guy. And you can put Jordan Westberg, Cowzer
had a good year, O 'Neal's good. O 'Hearn's solid.
But I don't know. Without Gunner, I've never
seen the O's play before. I don't think you really
have in the last couple years. So I'm a little
curious on how it's going to go. Yeah, I don't
know how they're going to structure the lineup.
Gunner is hitting live BP today as we're recording
this. He still says he wants to be ready for
opening day, but he is running out of time because
I think there are only two or three exhibition
games left. until opening day so they got to
get him live abs soon if not now um because you
can't just throw him in the fire you have to
have him see live pitching before you put him
in that opening day lineup i would love to see
him there i mean if i'll be if i'm there at the
game i would love to watch gunner play he's the
best player on the team but i think there's If
he can't play, I think they'll put Holiday at
short. I think they'll put Westberg at second,
Urias at third. I don't know how those structures
will line up. Maybe they do, like, Holiday leadoff
or Mullens leadoff or Couser leadoff. What would
you want? I don't know if you want Holiday leading
off. I think I would prefer Couser leading off.
I think you just swap kind of where Couser and
Henderson were before. I think you would do Couser,
Rutschman, O 'Neal, O 'Hearn, something like
that, I think is what they would do. But Rios
has... Typically pitched well against the O's.
Why is he starting over Gosman? I think they
like Berrios. I don't know. He started for them
last year on opening day, too. I just think they
like him. I don't know. Interesting. But, I mean,
the Blue Jays, listen, I'm not going to spend
too much time on this matchup, but the Blue Jays
feel like they can win the division, and they
feel like they have to make a statement early
to keep flat and to get them to re -sign with
the team. The O's have four in Toronto to start
the season. It's tough because Toronto's going
to come out and try to put a whooping on them,
and the O's will be shorthanded without Rodriguez,
potentially without Henderson. Who knows what
Bautista's status is, if he's going to be able
to pitch. He won't be able to pitch back -to
-backs. Who knows if he'll be even ready to go
for those games. So O's need to come out and
make a statement because not to look ahead in
the schedule. But to actually look ahead in the
schedule, O's are at the Blue Jays for four,
and then they come home, and then they get the
Red Sox for three. So you get seven important
divisional matchups in the first seven games.
So they've got to make a statement early. I agree.
Speaking of the Red Sox, Thursday, 3 -0 -8 Eastern.
Hold on. 406 Eastern. Excuse me. The O's game
is at 308 Eastern. 406 Eastern, Red Sox at the
Rangers. Garrett Crochet against Nathan Evaldi.
Rangers are slight favorites. Crochet, they are.
The Rangers are barely a favorite over the Red
Sox. They're both in the minus money, which means
that you don't make $100 back if you bet $100.
You just make more money if you bet on the Red
Sox to win, and they actually win. But what do
you think about this matchup? You get to see
Crochet in the Red Sox uniform for the first
time in a regular season game, and the Rangers,
hopefully all healthy, come out and make a statement.
I think it's probably one of the more exciting
games you could watch. I'm stoked for this one.
I wish I would be able to watch it. I'm sad I
can't watch this game. Because these are the
two teams I think you and I have talked about
all offseason that really have a really good
chance to make it to the World Series. That aren't
the top -named... These are two very good squads.
They're stacked. They are so stacked. I mean,
their lineups are great. I think it's a really
good test for Crochet. Because last year, I think
his first start was against the Braves. And he
just shut him out completely. And everyone's
like, whoa. And this year, everyone kind of knows
who Crochet is. They got four years of tape on
him. And it would be a good test, you know, to
really show if he, A, is worth the price. If
the hype is real, which it definitely is because
he's throwing 100 miles an hour from the left
side. But I think I'm so excited. It'll be a
good matchup. I'm stoked to watch this one. I
don't know why the Rangers are favorites. Maybe
just because they're at home. I would honestly
lean Red Sox on this one just because of crochet.
But I think if the Rangers can still line up
all their guys over the next couple days, I like
the Rangers to win the series, Red Sox to win
the opener. That's what I would say. Okay. All
right. Interesting. We've got next. Yeah, same
time, Thursday, 4 .06 Eastern, Phillies at Nationals.
Zach Wheeler against Mackenzie Gore. This one
is in D .C. Phillies are heavy favorites. They're
the biggest favorites so far at minus 172, and
the Nats are at plus 144. Phillies trying to
come out and get back to the playoffs and make
a statement after getting ousted by the Mets
last year in the division series. This feels
like a... The season for the Phillies, you've
got some of their stars that are aging out. They've
got to make it happen now. Zach Wheeler's getting
older. Harper's getting older. I think they have
two guys in their lineup that are under 30. I
think that's Marsh and Boehm. Everybody else
is on the wrong side of 30. Serious? Yeah, everybody
else is on the wrong side of 30. But the Phillies
are still one of the favorites to win the World
Series. They start their quest in D .C. What
does this game mean to you? What do you think?
I think the Nationals are going to win this game.
You do? Yeah, the Phillies are terrible at starting
the season right. The last two years, they've
just gone to horrible starts, and then they make
this crazy push at the second half of the season
and dominate the playoffs. But I don't know.
I'm kind of high on Mackenzie Gore this year.
I think he's really going to take another big
step. 26, yeah. That's a really good – he has
all the talent in all the – what, the talent?
All the talent and all the talent. All the talent
and all the talent in the world. I was trying
to think of what the word was. It's okay. I mean,
he has like the physique that you want in a pitcher.
Kenji, you're a big physique guy, aren't you?
I'm a big physique guy. Kenji's been checking
out Mackenzie Gore's physique. Give me them big
tall lefties, you know? That's why you like me.
That's why I like all my friends who are all
lefties and tall. It's stupid. Okay, so you like
the Nats to win this game. Okay, that's a good
bet. Okay. I have the Nats winning the game.
All right, this will be fun to watch for a lot
of – I mean, the Nats have a lot of really good
young talent. Dylan Cruz, James Wood, C .J. Abrams,
Mackenzie Gore. So it'll be interesting to watch
them, how they take on this Phillies team. But
I'm leaning Phillies just because it's Zach Wheeler
on opening day. So good. However. uh the next
matchup the one that you'll be at kenji uh guardians
at the royals uh thursday at 4 11 eastern time
uh this is tanner bybee against cole reagan's
uh royals are a favorite and the guardians are
an underdog bybee speaking of tanner bybee just
got his extension today four years 56 million
something like that added on to arbitration is
what it is yep and i think it bought out another
year or two as free agency which is nice for
uh for bybee so Reagan's got his extension as
well as arbitration years earlier this offseason.
But this is big for both teams, both AL Central
teams. You feel like the division's kind of up
in the air, unless you're a White Sox fan, which
it's not. So this is a big game, you know, divisional
matchup right out of the gate, two aces going
at it. You'll get to see what both squads have.
So I'm stoked to watch Bobby Witt play. I know
you are. Good thing my ace is better than their
ace. Cole Reagan's when he's on is very, very
good. What's your thoughts on this game? What
are you most excited to see in person and at
the stadium? I mean, of course, I think they're
going to win. The Royals are going to win. I
think they're going to dominate. But what I'm
really excited about is just being at the field.
I've been to one Major League Baseball game,
and it was a Braves -Marlins game in August.
Ugh. Yeah. And the Braves lost against the Marlins.
What a disappointment that was to watch, you
know, Albies. The Marlins? Austin Riley and Ozuna
all score one run in the game. That's tough.
Yeah, that's tough. But, no, I'm really excited
to just be there to experience it because I know
the fans are going to be really hyped up. They
will be. They're going to be rowdy. Yep. Kansas
City is a phenomenal baseball city. phenomenal
baseball city apparently eric used to play with
the cleveland guardians manager and so like vote
yeah yeah apparently they're just like family
friends they used to go to like disneyland together
that makes sense because we're both a's i remember
that yeah and so they're just like best buds
i guess Just a weird thing that I learned about.
For those who may not be aware of what Kenji's
talking about, Eric Sogard, Kenji's potential
future brother -in -law, used to play for the
Oakland A's and had a long -storied successful
big league career. And so it's pretty cool that
he has all these connections to big leaguers.
I love Steven Vogt as a manager. I think he's
a phenomenal fit. He had a great year last year.
I don't know if the Guardians got better. I think
they took a step back. I do. What were you going
to say? You were leaning up to the mic for a
second. Oh, they didn't get better. That's the
thing. Yeah, I don't think they got any better.
I like the Royals. They secured the back end
of the bullpen a little bit, and that was the
big problem last year. I still like them. Bobby
Wood Jr. It's going to be a great game. I'm so
excited for you to go watch in person at the
K and take in that environment. I'll be there
a week after you are. I'll be there on the 4th.
Yes. Yeah. Okay. Moving right along, same time
that the Royals game tips off, kicks off? No,
it's first pitches. First pitch of the next game
is Mets at the Astros. Clay Holmes against Framber
Valdez at 4 .11 Eastern time. Astros are a slight
favorite. Clay Holmes and the Mets just barely,
barely an underdog. This is going to be fun.
Juan Soto makes his debut with the New York Mets
in Houston, where he also made his big league
debut with the New York Yankees last year. They
also played in Houston to start the year. That
was a crazy series. That was a good series. It's
going to be a blast. I mean, Juan Soto, Pete
Alonso, Francisco Lindor against Houston, who's
kind of retooled this offseason. Christian Walker,
Isak Paredes, still Jordan, Altuve's out on the
left. He looks like a deer in headlights out
there on the left sometimes. This is going to
be a great game. This is another one of the ones
that I will regret not being able to watch most
of because I think these are two contenders in
their respective leagues. I think this is an
awesome, awesome matchup. This is a great game.
What a way for Clay Holmes to start off his starting
pitching career again. He used to be a starter,
right, if I remember correctly? Yes, I believe
with the Pirates he was. And he gets to go to
a ballpark that you could just hit a little tiny
fly ball to left field, and it's a home run.
Yep. Got to be careful throwing to Christian
Walker, Isak Paredes, and Jose Altuve, and Jainer
Diaz. But besides that, I'm pumped. This is going
to be fun. I know we're not so high on them,
but they still got players that you just love
watching. Like, Jordan Alvarez is just a fun
at -bat to watch. And the Mets have, like, four
different guys that you're just, Can't wait to
watch it. So it's going to be great. This is
one of my favorite games of the day because you
see two teams that had success. The Astros, it's
been well documented their success, not last
year, but in all like the eight years before.
The Mets obviously made the championship series
last year and fell to the eventual champion Dodgers.
But both have added. in different ways this off
season. So it'll be fun to watch the new look
Mets against the new look Astros. I think that's
what I'm most excited to see again. Oh, who do
I have winning? I'm going to take the Mets to
win just for fun. Okay. Once it gets a big time
hit, Lindor does his thing. Mets win. Clay Holmes
goes four and two thirds, two earned runs or
something like that. Give me 10 Ks, Clay Holmes.
Oh, boy. Kenji has Clay Holmes in fantasy, so
he's all biased now. At the same time, first
pitch is in Cincinnati at Great American Ballpark.
We have the Giants at the Reds. Logan Welby against
Hunter Green. Two really good pitchers. Unfortunately,
this is like – I'm going to disrespect the Giants
and the Reds right away. This is a bad look.
This is just not on my highest tier of I need
to watch these teams play. I'm sorry. The Giants,
you have to prove me wrong. Giants make me excited.
The Reds have a lot of exciting talent, but there's
just also a lot that's going on in that window.
The Reds are a slight favorite. Giants are essentially
a pick -em. It's 50 -50. Who do you like in this
ballgame? I'm going Giants. Hogan Webb is just
so reliable. He's so reliable. I think the team
is A, better. I think they have more experience.
Cincinnati is still super young. And I don't
know. Cincinnati, it's fun to believe in them.
But until they actually put it together, it's
hard to root for them. Not root for them, but
believe it. So I'm going to have the – I'm picking
the Giants. But I think it will be a pitcher's
duel for sure. Yeah. I mean, I like Hunter Green.
I think if he can stay healthy, he's one of the
better young pitchers in the game. His problem
has just been health. But, yeah, this is going
to be a good ball game. I think it'll be like
a – this feels like a 4 -2, like 5 -3 kind of
ball game. It'll be fun. I'll watch the highlights
at the end of the night. And now this, again,
this is a matchup of the wild card round last
year. Again, the same time. So we have, what
is that, four games tipping off? Holy cow, I'm
in March Madness mode still. You like just the
tip. We have four games. First pitching at 4
-11 Eastern time. This one I'm really excited
for. Braves -Padres. Chris Sale against Michael
King in San Diego. This is going to be beautiful.
I thought about going out to this game. It's
going to be a beautiful afternoon in sunny San
Diego. You get the reigning NL Cy Young Award
winner against a team in the Padres that were
one game away from going to the NLCS. They were
called the best team in the playoffs. They were.
The Dodgers, the world champs. were most scared
of the Padres last year. And Padres actually
come into this game a slight underdog because
they're facing Chris Sale, even though they're
at home. Padres plus 104, Braves minus 122. I
do like the Braves to win this one just because
it's Chris Sale, and I love their lineup still.
I think that they're going to – they just were
so wrecked by injuries last year. I like the
Braves to have a really good season. I like the
Padres to have a really good season too. I just
don't know what they're going to bring on opening
day. It should be a fun game. I'm really excited
for this one. Me too. It's a really good matchup.
I'm a little shocked that it's not Dylan Cease
starting. I kind of expected him to be the 1A
pitcher. Yeah. Either way, I definitely do see
the Braves taking this game as well. Chris Sale
is just... It's just Chris Sale, man. He's so
good. Yeah, he's nasty. He's so good. And they
got all those righties. He's just going to bury
sliders down and into those righties. You can't
see the ball. You can't see the ball. You can't.
Nope. Well, moving right along, we're going to
be even faster with this one. Also, first pitching
at 411, Angels at the White Sox. I wonder if
the White Sox will even sell out this one. Yusei
Kikuchi against Sean Burke. Sean Burke making,
I believe, his sixth career MLB start. It will
be his opening day game. Was he on the Rangers?
I don't know, dude. I have no clue. I don't know
much about Sean Burke. I wish him the best of
luck. The line isn't that crazy. The White Sox
are an underdog, but only plus 126, which isn't
that wild. You say Kikuchi. I got him in fantasy.
I like him to have a good day. I'm going to take
the Angels to win this one. I'm going to get
a healthy trout. Yeah, let's see my trout. Yeah,
I would like to see a healthy trout. I would
love to see Christian Moore break camp with the
big league club. I don't know if he's going to,
but maybe during the year we'll see him up. I
like the Angels to win this one. He might. I
don't think he will. From what I'm hearing. Okay.
Oh, so Sean Burke, I apologize. He's a 25 -year
-old, not a 45 -year -old pitcher that was on
the road. 25 -year -old, yep. He is getting his
chance. He's a third -round pick from the White
Sox, so wish you the best of luck because they
need it. Go get it, Sean Burke. Make your stamp
on the season, dude. No better time to show people
what you got than opening day when all the lights
are on. Mm -hmm. Also, first pitching Thursday
for 11 Eastern time, Paul Skeens and the Pittsburgh
Pirates at the Miami Marlins against Sandy Alcantara.
Two really, really good pitchers going at it
in this one. The Pirates are a steady and strong
favorite on the road, minus 158. I think that's
the Paul Skeens effect and the Miami Marlins
plus 134. I don't know how this could go either
way for me. I think the Pirates have a slightly
better roster. But on Sandy Alcantara Day, the
Marlins still have some young talent. Connor
Norby, Xavier Edwards. This could go either way
for me. This is a 50 -50 ballgame. I don't know
if I would agree with that. The Marlins suck.
Against Skeens, I do worry they might not get
a single hit. They're so bad. At least the Pirates,
you have Ryan Reynolds. O 'Neal Cruz. O 'Neal
Cruz. What, Nick Gonzalez? I mean, you got some
brighter stars. You're right. You're right. The
Marlins, I just, I mean, I don't know what they're
doing. But I'm excited to watch Alcantara pitch,
and that is literally the only thing that I care
about. I am excited to watch Alcantara pitch.
I got him in fantasy. Kenji has skiing, so that'll
be a fun day. 4 -16 Eastern time on Thursday.
We have Twins at the Cardinals. Pablo Lopez at
Sonny Gray. Both teams are in the minus money,
which means that you don't really win. You don't
win $100 if you bet $100, essentially. The Cardinals
are a – I guess the Twins are a slight favor
over the Cardinals. On the road, the Twins are.
Pablo Lopez, Sonny Gray should be a good matchup.
Two older arms, but two guys that are looking
to kind of bounce back from last year. I like
the Twins in this one. I just think they have
a better roster. The Cardinals scare me in a
couple different ways. I mean, if the Cardinals
have a lead up late and they bring Helsley in
the game, I think the Cardinals could still pull
it out. What do you think about this one? I think
the Twins dominate this game. I think the wheels
are going to fall off on Sonny Gray this year,
like big time. He's just getting older, and I
don't know. I just don't know if his stuff is
really there. I'm a big Pablo guy. And the Twins
team, their roster is just stacked. The Twins
got a good squad. Realistically, if you look
at their roster from top to bottom, It's stacked.
And if Royce Lewis is somehow healthy, which
he probably isn't going to be until July, and
then comes back for three games and pulls his
hamstring again, or whatever he does. But I have
the Twins winning by a pretty comfortable amount,
I think. Okay, great. I like the Twins in this
one as well. Now, this one I'm extremely excited
for. This one's going to be on ESPN. Tigers -Dodgers.
Derek Scooble against reportedly, it's not official,
but reportedly Blake Snell is going to go for
the reigning champs. Dodgers are favored, minus
152. Tigers plus 128. This is a really fun one.
I mean, this is going to be, I'll be done. Both
of our games should hopefully be finished or
wrapping up by the time this one kicks off. I
can't wait to watch. I can't wait to watch these
guys play. I mean, Scooble against the defending
champs, Snell against the really young Detroit
lineup. This is going to be a blast. I think
I told you this before, but I have the Dodgers
losing this game. You do. You said that multiple
times. I think Scooble is just going to dominate.
I don't think Mookie's going to play because
I don't know how, again, you come back from losing
15 pounds. Yeah. Scooble is just so good. If
I'm Shohei, I'm terrified of Tarek Scooble. Him
and Tanner Scott are probably the two pitchers
I fear the most from Otani. Scooble's throwing
motion and his velo, his stuff is just... I'd
be horrified. Tigers win this game. I think it'd
be a low -scoring game. I think it'd be a pitching
duel. I don't see Blake Snell going too deep
into the game because he throws a lot of balls.
I see Tarek going six. shut them down, and then
Devolpin just does the rest. But you're right.
I'm really excited for this game. This is going
to be so fun. It'll be on ESPN nationally broadcast.
It's going to be so much fun. This is like –
if I could put on like a tier list of matchups
I'm most excited for, this is like the S tier
game for me. This is at the very top. Detroit
kind of made an entrance. They made the playoffs
last year. They kind of made it for themselves.
And now they're – They're really going to get
to show if they're real or not. Yep, you got
to put up or shut up at this point. Yep, yep.
A's Mariners is your next one. This one is going
to come. So the Tigers -Dodgers pitches at 7
-11 Eastern time. A's Mariners pitches at 10
-11 Eastern time. So three hours after Tigers
-Dodgers gets underway. We have A's Mariners
in Seattle. Mariners are a slight favorite. This
is Severino against Gilbert. I like the Mariners
in this one. You heard my earlier prediction
that the Mariners are going to be the third wildcard
team, which is still kind of crazy for me to
say out loud. But I like the Mariners in this
one. I like Gilbert to continue his success from
last year. I think this is pretty standard in
my mind. The A's are going to be competitive,
but not against Logan Gilbert on opening night
in Seattle. No, give me Oakland or give me the
A's, baby. Give me the A's. I mean, Las Vegas,
athletics. I could see. I mean, Rooker could
have a homer. I wouldn't be shocked at that.
I just don't know what the rest of that line
-up is going to do. I don't know either, but
I believe in – no, I don't believe in Seattle.
It's not that I believe in the A's. It's that
I don't believe in Seattle. I know. You're so
out on the Mariners. It's hilarious. It's just
so disappointing. It's just annoying. So, they're
going to lose. Okay. Yep, they're going to lose.
Okay. And then the final matchup of Thursday,
I guess we should put this caveat in there. The
Rockies and the Rays don't play Thursday. They
play on Friday. And pray for Shane McClanahan's
health. Do they play each other? They play each
other on Friday. They'll be in Tampa, I believe.
And that'll still be fun. McClanahan, hopefully
he's healthy. He got pulled in today's game for
some triceps tightness. He'll get more testing.
But Rockies, Rays. Doesn't start until that Friday,
the 28th. The last game of Thursday is Cubs at
Diamondbacks. This is going to be fun. We have
TBD for the Cubs. I wouldn't be shocked. This
could be Imanaga. This could be Steele. I'm seeing
Steele on LB right now. Okay, perfect. Then it's
Steele at Gallon. I'm kind of surprised it's
not Corbin Burns for the Diamondbacks. But Gallon
in a contract year. I mean, they're going to
give him his chance. Diamondbacks are favored.
Minus 148. Cubs plus 126. This is a fun one.
I mean, I have Kyle Tucker and Fantasy. These
are also two teams that are supposed to be playoff
teams. This is kind of like the nightcap that
I'll be excited to tune into. You know, after
Tigers -Dodgers is over, we'll get Cubs -Diamondbacks,
and this will be like two teams duking it out
that need to get off to good starts because the
Cubs are in the competitive NL Central, and the
Diamondbacks, of course, play in the division
with the Dodgers and the Padres, so they got
to get going too. This will be a fun one. After
watching the Cubs – oops, sorry. After watching
the Cubs in Tokyo and watching Michael Bush just
hit cleanup, I realized that's probably the problem.
That they need a cleanup hitter? They need a
better cleanup hitter. They got Kyle Tucker now,
but he's not a cleanup hitter. He hits higher
in the lineup. I don't know if he's what you
want as your official cleanup hitter. They need
a bona fide power hitter in that lineup, I think.
And until they get that figured out, I don't
know. The Cubs, I'm worried after I've kind of
taken a step back and evaluated them. But, yeah,
I have Arizona winning this game. I have Arizona
winning this one too. The Cubs. Not comfortably,
but a good few runs. I mean, that's kind of the
downside of the Tokyo series is the Cubs are
0 -2, but it doesn't feel like they're 0 -2 because
it was like you were across the world. But you
go home – or they go on the road to Arizona.
I think they have four in Arizona to start the
year. You lose like three of those, and then
you're looking, and you're like, crap, we're
one and five? What kind of start to the year
is that? So you've got to get going here if you're
Chicago. You want to win – I think a split here
would be fantastic for them. They've got to start
making something happen if you're the Cubs. Because,
I mean, not that I think the NL Central is strong,
just – You don't want to let the Brewers get
hot. The Pirates have talent if they could figure
it out in their lineup. The Cubs are the favorite
for a reason. But that's opening day. Those are
the matchups on opening day. So I got my question
for you as usual. Please. Who's going to take
over opening day? What player is going to take
over? Who's going to have the crazy statistic
line on opening day? and everyone's just going
to go crazy for it. That's a really fun question.
I think Garrett Crochet is going to arrive. Okay.
Give me his projections. I think he gives you
five innings. I think he throws 80 pitches, one
earned run, like nine punch outs. And then everybody's
going to, at the end of the night, it's like,
oh, yeah, Red Sox got their guy. I also think
the same is going to apply for the Tigers and
Skubal. I think Skubal's going to come out and
make a statement and say, hey, I'm the Cy Young
guy, and I'm still the best in the world. I'm
still the guy you want to beat. Yeah, I could
see those two. That's top of mind, I guess, is
what I'm seeing. I don't know about lineups.
Adley Rutschman had a big opening day a couple
years ago. I don't know if he'll do the same
thing. Ryan Mountcastle always smashes Toronto
pitching, so we'll see if he has a good series.
But those two arms are the ones that I'm looking
at. Those guys are going to have good days. Yourself?
Give me Mike Trout. Three for four with two home
runs against Burke. Oh, boy. Against Sean Burke.
Yeah, give me Mike Trout, two homers, opening
day. It's going to hurt me because Brady took
him in fantasy pretty early. I didn't even know
he wanted him because I really wanted Mike Trout
this year. But, yeah, give me double homers from
Mike Trout. I like it. Michael Trout. Michael
Trout. One last question. Do you think Tyler
O 'Neal hits his sixth straight opening day home
run? He's done that? Yeah. Oh, he has to. He
has to. He has to? There's no way you're not
going up there. You're doing a couple extra push
-ups right before you take a bat. You can get
your biceps popping out and you're, you're, you're
swinging for the fence only. It doesn't matter.
It's opening day. You got paid by Baltimore.
They, they need you. They need your power. Who
cares if you go over four, four strikeouts, because
all you need to do is make, make contact to one,
one ball and your record continues. So yeah,
let's, let's see. Let's see a six straight by
Tyler O 'Neill. This is going to be fun, man.
I can't believe it's finally here. The week is
here. Opening day, everybody. Keep an eye out.
We're going to come out with two more episodes
before the games actually start. One more, we're
going to touch up on some league news, and then
just one fun episode that will drop on opening
day morning to get everybody ready to go. But
that's all I have, Ken. What do you got? Anything
else? It's the most wonderful time of the year.
It is, man. It is. Better than Christmas. Merry
baseball. Merry baseball. That's what we say,
everybody. That's how we are. That's how we are.
Thank you.