Three Takeaways from the First Two Days of the Season
While the sample size may still be small, here are three takeaways that can be interpreted from the games on Opening Day as well as yesterday.
1. Starting pitching performances is going to determine the success of the Orioles and Giants. - On Opening Day, Dylan Bundy pitched 7 innings, while giving up 5 hits, 1 walk, and recording 7 strikeouts. That performance virtually came out of nowhere as many thought heading into the season that Bundy might not provide enough to get the Orioles to the postseason. However, if he can continue to pitch like he did on Thursday when he takes the mound every fifth day, what a boost that would be for Baltimore. Of course, they still would need Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, and Kevin Gausman to step up, but it was a step in the right direction. Additionally, the Giants won against the Dodgers on Opening Day as well as yesterday with a final score of 1-0 both days thanks to dominant starting pitching. Ty Blach started the party with a 5 inning outing in which he gave up 3 hits, 3 walks, and recorded 3 strikeouts before Johnny Cueto took the mound last night and surprised everyone. Cueto finished the night with 1 hit and 4 strikeouts over the span of 7 innings. The moral of the story: Even though the Giants lost Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samrdzija prior to the start of the season, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Giants can't contend this year.
2. Lewis Brinson is going to be fun to watch this season and beyond.
- Take a look at the video on the following link from last night's game against the Cubs: https://www.facebook.com/Marlins/videos/10156047353887349/. Talk about a true centerfielder of the future right there who not only has a very high ceiling of potential, but someone that can cover some tremendous ground out in centerfield. For how big the centerfield is at Marlins Park, that catch by Brinson is something that should not be overlooked. Even though Brinson finished Opening Day 0-for-5 at the plate, don't think there's not a ton of offensive potential inside of him either. After all, Brinson is the 18th best prospect in baseball right now according to both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus and he finished 6 seasons in the minor leagues batting: .287/.353/.502 over the span of 2,382 plate appearances with 613 hits, 89 home runs, 322 RBI, 96 stolen bases, and 199 walks. The best part is Lewis Brinson is still only 23 years old so there's still a lot of development to be had and he will easily be the most exciting player to watch as the Marlins guide themselves through this transition and look to the future.
3. The Cubs bullpen will be a force all season long and help the club tremendously. - Through 2 games, the Cubs bullpen has been dominant. As Christopher Kamka of NBC Sports Chicago pointed out on Twitter, Cubs relievers have combined for 16.1 IP the past two days in which they gave up 9 hits along with 8 walks and recorded 14 strikeouts. While you'd like to see that walk rate lowered, you can't be disappointed with numbers like that especially the strikeouts. It might get lost in the shuffle nationally, but Eddie Butler performed at a very high level in last night's 17-inning game for the Cubs. Butler pitched 7 innings, gave up 4 hits along with 1 walk and recorded 5 strikeouts. Going into this season, Eddie Butler was upset because he basically didn't have a role in the starting rotation and there was word that he had requested a trade. However, if the Cubs can have someone like Butler in their bullpen for those games where a starting pitcher doesn't make it out of the first inning or two or has to be pulled due to an injury, then by all means he should be happy where he is. Every team would love to have a valuable asset, like Eddie Butler, along with a very deep starting rotation and a dominant bullpen, which is exactly, what the Chicago Cubs have this year.
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