Boxscore Bits – April 8th, 2022
A few thoughts on the games from Opening Day, April 7th.
Added after this went live: I’m going to play with some different formats over the next few days until I land on exactly what I want. I greatly appreciate the feedback already in the comments and would love more especially once you see the different formats that I try out!
MIL 4, CHC 5
- Corbin Burnes wasn’t terribly sharp (5 IP-4 H-3 ER-1-HR-3 BB-4 K with the cutter just not looking like the 2021 iteration. It has just a 53% strike rate and 6% swinging strike rate, down from 72% and 17% last year.
- Kyle Hendricks meanwhile was excellent (5.3 IP-5 H-1 ER-0 HR-3 BB-7 K) and his 17 swinging strikes (21%) was higher than anything he did in 2021 and highest of the day by 5 (Ohtani).
- David Robertson (1 IP-1 H-0 ER-1 K) looked sharp while notching a save as the knuckle curve was in vintage form.
- Rowan Wick (0.7 IP-2 H-1 ER)
- Of course, Nico Hoerner hit the 1st homer of the 2022 season, his first since September 21st, 2019 (324 PA).
- Ian Happ got off to a fast start, going 3-4 with 2 2B and 2 RBI.
- Seiya Suzuki got on base three times in his MLB debut including a base hit (1-2, 2 BB, R, K).
- Willy Adames, Andrew McCutchen, and Rowdy Tellez had 2 hits apiece.
CLE 1, KCR 3
- Shane Bieber’s velo was down to just 90.9 mph (92.8 last yr; 93.2 career), but he still kept KC off balance with 4.7 IP-3 H-1 ER-0 BB-4 K. It was cold and windy in KC, but it was worth keeping an eye on.
- Zack Greinke was remarkably efficient early on with just 30 pitches thru 3 facing the minimum thanks to a double play, but then nearly doubled his pitch count in the 4th (24) and was out before the sixth inning finished (5.7 IP-5 H-1 ER-1 BB-1 K).
- Triston McKenzie struggled in a planned long relief outing (3 IP-2 H-2 ER-2 BB-1 K) sitting just 91.8 mph and notching just 1 swinging strike in 47 pitches.
- Just 12 total hits in the game and Myles Straw was the only to notch 2 hits (2-4, R, BB, K, SB).
- Bobby Witt Jr.’s first MLB hit was a big one as he had a go-ahead RBI 2B (1-4, R, RBI) in the 8th!
- Steven Kwan notched his first MLB hit and walked twice.
- Mike Matheny gave fantasy folks a heart attack when he brought Scott Barlow out for the 8th, but he let his closer throw two innings and he wound up with the win (2 IP-2 H-0 ER-3 K).
PIT 0, STL 9
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- Adam Wainwright decimated the Pirates (6 IP-5 H-0 ER-6 K), dotting them up with 22 called strikes (27% Called Strike rate – league average was 16% last year & Waino led the league at 22%).
- JT Brubaker was diced up (3 IP-4 H-4 ER-3 BB-2 K-1 HR). His 12% SwStr is about the only positive to take from the outing.
- Tyler O’Neill did the big damage off Brubaker with a 2nd inning 3-run HR and wound up with 5 RBIs in all (2-3, 5 RBI, HR, R, BB, K).
- Nolan Arenado (1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, K) and Tommy Edman (1-4, R, RBI, HR, K) joined the HR party, too.
- They didn’t want that Paul Goldschmidt smoke as he walked FOUR times (1-1, 2 R, 4 BB, SB).
- Harrison Bader ripped a pair of hits including a double (2-4, 2 R).
- Yoshi Tsutsugo was the lone 2-hit guy for Pittsburgh (2-3, 2 1B).
- Tsutsugo is one to watch and could be a key waiver pickup this year after posting a 134 wRC+ in 144 PA with PIT last year.
NYM 5, WAS 1
- Tylor Megill was brilliant in Jacob deGrom’s stead (5 IP-3 H-0 ER-6 K), posting a 15% SwStr with a 96.2 mph fastball (+1.5 from last yr).
- Patrick Corbin wasn’t great, but only allowed a couple runs (4 IP-5 H-2 ER-2 BB-4 K).
- The Mets peppered 10 singles and 12 hits altogether with Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano, Mark Canha, and Jeff McNeil each collecting 2 hits.
- Alonso was also hit in the face by a fastball, but seems to have escaped with just a busted lip.
- Francisco Lindor got a hit, but also fanned thrice (1-5, RBI, 3 K).
- Juan Soto – unsurprisingly – was the lone damage for Washington with a 6th inning homer (1-3, R, RBI, HR, BB, K).
- Keibert Ruiz ripped a 2B and 1B (2-4).
CIN 6, ATL 3
- Tyler Mahle continued to be a stud on the road (5 IP-3 H-1 UER-2 BB-7 K) and handled the World Champs.
- Max Fried was roughed up (5.7 IP-8 H-5 ER-1 BB-5 K), but a Brandon Drury 3-run homer off Collin McHugh did some of the damage. Dansby Swanson just missed a play that would’ve been the 3rd out and instead extended the inning and eventually led to the big damage.
- Drury got the nod against a lefty and delivered (2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, K).
- Tony Santillan locked down the SV in a wide open bullpen (1 clean IP w/2 Ks) while Luis Cessa (1 IP-0 H-0 ER-2 BB-0 K) and Justin Wilson (1 clean IP w/2 Ks, too) – two other potential SV candidates – pitches the 6th and 7th, respectively.
- Spencer Strider had the first “Who was THAT guy?” middle relief appearance of the year, dominating with 2 perfect innings that included 5 Ks, averaging 99.6 mph and netting a 33% swinging strike rate.
- Austin Riley (3-4, HR, 2 RBI, R) was the offense for Atlanta with 3 of their 4 total hits.
- Jonathan India (2-5, R, K) and Kyle Farmer (2-4, R, RBI, K) joined Drury as 2-hit guys for Cincy.
HOU 3, LAA 1
- Framber Valdez (6.7 IP-2 H-0 ER-1 BB-6 K) stole the show from Shohei Ohtani despite a 9-K effort from the phenom (4.7 IP-4 H-1 ER-1 BB-9 K).
- Matt Duffy was a shocking installment in the cleanup role and of course he got 2 of their 4 hits all night (2-3).
- Ohtani (0-4, K), Mike Trout (1-3, BB, K), and Anthony Rendon (0-4) were just 1-for-11.
- Jo Adell went 0-for-3 with 3 Ks and some rough defense, a day to forget for sure.
- Alex Bregman (2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI) and Yordan Alvarez (1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB) hit back-to-back homers off Ryan Tepera which proved to be the difference.
- Jose Altuve swiped his first base of the season to salvage his night (0-3, SB, BB, 3 K).
- Chas McCormick (2-4, 2 2B, K) and Michael Brantley (2-5, 2B, R) were the other 2-hit guys for Houston.
SDP 2, ARI 4
- Yu Darvish fired 6 no-hit innings on 92 pitches (6 IP-0 H-0 ER-4 BB-3 K) but San Diego obviously wasn’t going to push him for a no-no on Opening Day.
- Madison Bumgarner was out quickly with 4 BB doing a lot of the damage to his pitch count (3 IP-1 H-1 ER-4 BB-2 K) which reached 68 in just three innings.
- The Padres traded for Taylor Rogers and announced he would be their go-to guy in the ninth, but obviously he wasn’t there just yet so they turned to Robert Suarez who had a rough debut (3 ER on 2 BB and a HBP while not getting an out).
- Jake Cronenworth (0-2, 2 BB) and Luke Voit (0-2, RBI, 2 BB) had a couple walks apiece.
- Ha-Seong Kim 김하성 went hitless but still made an impact scoring both of their runs (0-3, 2 R, BB, K, SB).
- There were 14 BB in all during this game with David Peralta (0-2, 2 BB, K) and Pavin Smith (1-2, 2 BB) also getting two each.
- Seth Beer (2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R) was the hero with a 3-run game-winning homer off Craig Stammen.
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What stood out to you on the Opening Day slate? I actually did this last Opening Day and then didn’t do it anymore for no reason in particular. Would you want to see this regularly?
something like this would be awesome on a regular basis. opening day takeaways: worried about bieber (and maybe mckenzie), excited about megill
Yes I would Love to see Box score Bits everyday. It would be great Thank You.
Paulsam
Paul, I think this is a great feature. I would read this every day.
Another relevant note from the Cleveland game is that Amed Rosario got the start in LF and had a fly ball clank off his glove, leading to Bieber’s 1 ER, which could well have been scored an error and a UER. Will interesting to see how much leash Rosario gets in the outfield.
Because I can’t watch every game, I think comments like this would make this column that much more valuable so I really appreciate the extra commentary where y’all see fit, especially if it corrects something I surmise from the boxscore that can only be gleaned from watching
Couldn’t agree more. As a baseball junkie who works full time, I can’t see nearly as many games as I would like
More critically, after the error, Francona yanked Rosario mid-game out of LF and moved him to SS, pushing Gimenez from SS to 2B and Chang from 2B to 1B. That is a lot of manoeuvring to get Rosario out of the OF.
Then today, their second game, Francona moved up Steven Kwan in the batting order from 7th to 2nd, the latter an ideal spot for Kwan, who went on to get on base three times in four at-bats, including a walk, and making a stellar, diving catch coming in on a ball in LF.
Kwan now has three hits and three walks in eight plate appearances against good pitchers. The rest of the Guardians, in two games, has gotten on base 11 times. For a team so starved for hitting generally, Kwan has a decent chance to stand out so much the first couple of weeks that he will continue to start in LF even after Josh Naylor returns; Kwan will stay in left, Naylor will take over in RF and Rosario will continue at SS with Gimenez at 2B.
If Kwan plays a full season, I would expect 10-15 homers, 5-10 steals, a strong OBP north of .335 and plenty of runs hitting in front of Ramirez and Reyes, which is great value in a deep league where Kwan went at or close to the league minimum –> I got him for $1 in a 12-team, 40-man roster A.L.-only keeper league.
I like this but would be interested in more analysis or at least more detail, less of just what happened. Good to know Strider’s velo and swinging K rate, don’t need to know who got 2 hits.
Appreciate feedback. This is a work in progress so I’ll be trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t
Yeah, this was a solid column, once minor league games start if you do it for those picking a game of the day to highlight that would be cool too.
This is great stuff, more please!
If you were going to pick between Hendricks and MeGill, are you going MeGill because of the higher end stuff or Hendricks with the better track record before last season? 12 team Roto dynasty.
He was good, but I don’t think he deserves a capital G in his last name just yet. Need to win a CY or two before he gets that.
That Brubaker, he’s a puzzle. Ten swinging strikes by my count, in three innings, which isn’t bad (albeit in 68 pitches). Two infield hits and a bloop double. One HR and two deep outs. Seemed to see a lot of all that last year, too.
Good stuff. Don’t stop, please.
Yes, please do this regularly, at least for the first few weeks of the season!
Be great stopgap until Mining the News comes back!
I hope to supplement MtN with this!
I like this and would totally read every day. It would make my life so much simpler. And I just wanted to add I was at the Braves game and Fried got what your buddy Nick Pollack would call “singled out” — just beaten by bloop hits, near outs and little hard contact.
Seiya looked ready to put up a .400 OBP.
“Decimated” means one in ten were killed. You would have been better served by a different word choice, such as “obliterated”.
Paul, great idea for a regular column. I have a couple quick thoughts for you on format.
I like the column! Lots of information crammed into a quick read. Thanks for the work.