Baseball is back. Yes, baseball is back. The 2021 opening day is in April and we have baseball in the spring. The first day of the new season, there are many things worth watching.
Last season, because of the covid-19 pandemic, the opening day was on July 24 and there were only two games, one was the game between the Yankees and the Nationals, the other one was that the Dodgers hosted the Giants. This season, all 30 teams are in action on April 1, but two games were postponed.
Last season, Giancarlo Stanton crushed the first home run of the season and it was a two-run homer. In the 2020 season, there were 2304 home runs and Giancarlo Stanton had 4 home runs. This Season, Miguel Cabrera went yard in a blizzard. It’s the first home run of the 2021 season. This homer is future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera’s 488 career home runs. It’s a good start and he needs 12 home runs to enter the 500 Home Run Club. In total, there are 29 home runs on the 2021 opening day.
Last season, Max Scherzer struck out Brett Gardner in the top of the first inning. That was Scherzer’s first strikeout of the season and the first strikeout of the season. In total, Scherzer threw 92 strikeouts last year and there were 15586 strikeouts last season. This season, Gerrit Cole struck out Cavan Biggio to record the first strikeout of the season and Cole struck out 8 times on opening day. Meanwhile, against the Detroit Tigers, Shane Bieber gave up 3 runs, however, he also threw 12 strikeouts.
Additionally, MLB announced the three-batter minimum rule last season. The Dodgers set up a very interesting lineup.
The Dodgers probably wanted to do an experiment and would like to see whether this lineup works. Max Muncy was batting first and Mookie Betts was batting second. The experiment did not work well, Max Muncy didn’t have a good 2020 and he only batted .150 when batting first. This season, Mookie Betts batted first for the defending champion on opening day and the former MVP had 2 hits in the first game of the 2021 season.
When we look at the starting lineup, we know that pitchers have to hit in the National League ballparks. And, pitchers did have hits. Clayton Kershaw collected 2 singles at Coors Field and Madison Bumgarner had a double at Petco Park. Thus, two pitchers already have hits in the 2021 season.
The 2021 season has officially begun and it’s always exciting to watch baseball games. Baseball is so fun and unpredictable. Former Cy Young winners Clayton Kershaw and Shane Bieber each took the first loss of the season. At the same time, Zack Greinke tossed six strong innings with four strikeouts and he got the first win of the season. It’s the first day of baseball and there will be more to come. However, the game between the Mets and the Nationals was postponed due to covid-19 issues. It’s still important to follow the safety protocols while enjoying baseball.
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