The Opening Day is coming. Baseball is officially back. On the first day of the 2023 season, Hunter Greene will make his first Opening Day start. Greene was the second overall pick in the 2017 MLB draft and he made it into the big leagues last April. On his first Opening Day start, there is something worth watching.
The 2023 Opening Day is just a few days away. During the spring training, some hitters have been hitting very well and it seems that they are ready for the 2023 season.
Last year, I bought a blaster box of the 2021 Topps Bowman Platinum and it was the first time that I purchased this product. In January, I saw that the 2022 Bowman Platinum was available on Walmart website and thought that it might be fun to open a blaster box of this product.
Just a few days ago, I was reading a book, which was written by a former MLB manager. In the book, he indicated that a talented player who crushed a home run with an exit velocity of 100.1 mph in the first at-bat of a game. That player is one of the most talented players that he has ever seen in his managerial career. While reading the book, I was wondering who did hit the ball really hard, in particular, which players did hit more balls with an exit velocity of 100 mph or higher last year?
A few weeks ago, I passed by a sports complex and I saw some baseball cards there. I decided to get 2 hobby packs of the 2022 Topps Allen & Ginter. I was looking for some cool rookie cards. However, very interestingly, I found 2 Luis Gonzalez cards. One is a short print card and the other is a short print mini card.
The 2023 Topps Series 1 was released in mid-February. For me, I often buy some packs of Topps Series 1 each year. Once the 2023 Topps Series 1 was released, I went to a sports card shop and bought some hobby packs of the 2023 Topps Series 1. As usual, I was looking for some cool rookie cards.
In the 2023 season, there will be some new rules. Besides pitch clock, the MLB announced a change on when a team uses a position player to pitch. While seeing the rule change, I’m thinking about some position players who used to go on the mound last season.
Last month, the Oakland Athletics decided to send pitcher A.J. Puk to the Marlins and acquired outfielder JJ Bleday from the Marlins. Puk was selected by the Oakland A’s in the first round of the 2016 draft. In the 2019 draft, the Marlins chose JJ Bleday in the first round. Hence, these 2 teams each traded a player who was selected in the first round.
In mid-February, the Dodgers decided to sign David Peralta and they agreed to a 1-year deal. David Peralta made it into the bid leagues in 2014. From 2014 to 2022, he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Last July, he was traded to the Rays. After reading the news that Peralta would return to the National League West. I’m thinking about a free agent that the Dodgers signed a few years ago.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a post on Twitter. The post was about a pitcher who threw really hard in 2022 and his fastballs frequently touched triple digits. Well, in today’s baseball games, it’s not rare to see some pitchers throw pitches that reach triple digits. However, after seeing the post, I was just thinking about which pitchers frequently throw pitches with high velocity and high spin-rate.
Last month, the Padres and Yu Darvish agreed to a contract extension. The contract covers 2023-2028. While reading the news about Darvish’s contract extension, I’m thinking about several stats in his career.
Last month, I listened to a podcast show and in the show, the host and a guest were discussing the potential MVP winners in the coming season. And, someone mentioned that Matt Olson would win the award. Well, it’s always interesting to see whether someone can correctly predict the MVP award winners. I don’t know if Matt Olson will win the MVP award. However, I was thinking about a question after listening to the show.
In 2022, Zack Greinke decided to return to the Kansas City Royals. He made 26 starts, posting a 3.68 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP over 137 innings. In February 2023, the Royals and Greinke agreed to a 1-year deal and the 2009 AL Cy Young award winner will stay in Kansas City for one more year.
