Blue Jays beat Cardinals as part of MLB's spectacular Opening Day
Deep thoughts and other observations on the first day of 2023 season
For the first time in MLB history, Opening Day interest was not just about your home team. It was Opening Day for the entire industry and the results were spectacular. On Thursday, fans were able to take in a total of 15 games, early afternoon to late night, with live telecasts and highlights wall-to-wall. Horsehide heaven (even though it’s actually now cowhide).
Why did this opening day feel so fun and so different? It used to be, for at least a century, that opening day featured one game on the schedule, always the Reds at home at Crosley Field or Riverfront Stadium. Cincinnati is seen as the original NL franchise and thus was afforded that honour every year. Then opening day evolved.
At some point in the ‘70s, other teams started to schedule their own openers at night, after the Reds played in the afternoon. The one-game traditional opening day schedule was no more. But then came this ‘23 decision to have all 30 teams open on the same day. It is inspired.
The way the all-teams opener played out fittingly saw Aaron Judge hammer the first home run of the season at 1:23 p.m. in the Bronx. MLB could not have scripted it any better. The schedule ended with Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and the Angels playing a nationally televised game in Anaheim (losing 2-1 to the A’s). It wasn’t all perfect. There were the Mets and Braves misfortunes that saw Justin Verlander and Max Fried hurt prior to and during opening day is a downside that can’t be blamed on the schedule.
How about the New Rules
As for the new rules, gauging the impact they may have had on the first day of ’23 following the experiment of spring training. Recall the major changes that included 1) bigger bases, 2) a 15-second pitch clock with nobody on and 20-seconds with men on base, 3) No defensive shifts with a pair of infielders required on each side of second base and all four players with both feet on the dirt and 4) a maximum two disengagements by pitcher with men on base before a balk.
Some of the Early Effects
-Leading off the 8th inning at Fenway, Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers struck out while tapping his spikes. He was not paying attention to the pitcher as the clock ticked past nine seconds. The Sox lost to the O’s by a run. Did fans benefit? No!
-Consider Pete Alonso walked for the Mets, then after a foul ball by Jeff McNeil wandered back to first base too slowly and McNeil, while waiting for his teammate, was charged with a pitch-clock violation strike.
-How about, in a tense, well-played, run-less game in Seattle in the eighth inning, M’s shortstop J.P. Crawford fell behind, no balls and two strikes. Guardians’ reliever James Karinchak took more than 15 seconds and was charged with Ball 1. The discombobulated righthander then issued a base-on-balls, hit a batter and gave up a three-run bomb to Ty France. Final score 3-0.
-For the Blue Jays opener vs. the Cards at Busch Stadium, there were three pitch-clock violations, none of which led to game-changing moments.
-Significant Stats: The average time of the 15 games on Opening Day was 2 hours, 46 minutes, which was about a 30-minute reduction over the full slate of 2022 openers. There were five shutouts in 15 games on Thursday, with 21 of 23 successful steals. Interesting, but too small a sample size to draw any conclusions.
Early suggestions to maintain the integrity of the championship season.
Regardless of the negative Twitter responses and righteous comments I have already received via Substack, I will continue to suggest that, in the 8th inning and beyond, the pitch-clock be eliminated. Baseball, as compelling entertainment in the final two innings, plus extras, is a game of suspense, drama and nerves. Why not allow cerebral moments to play out in a tight game with the sport’s best hitters facing the game’s best relievers in a virtual chess match.
Allow a hitter battling game-on-the-line nerves to step out of the box, look up at the sky, take a deep breath and ponder what pitches he might be facing. That at-bat, that inning, that decision, even in April, may make the difference of a team playing into October. Don’t end up like Devers and be called out while tapping dirt off your spikes in the eighth.
I’m not a radical. Certainly, keep the same pitch clock rules for the first seven innings. That’s 22.2% of the game without a clock. That would no doubt still be a huge time saver, but it becomes an addition to the integrity of the drama. It’s not about old-school. It’s about result.
Blue Jays Game 1 Observations
The Blue Jays edged the Cards 10-9, in three hours and 38 minutes, a time of game that nobody seems to be complaining about. The game was a rollercoaster, with the Cardinals suffering three blown saves and the Blue Jays one, over the final three innings.
Exit-Schmexit Velocity: The Blue Jays offence last year prided itself on exit velocity. How many losses were there in which the Jays smoked a half-dozen or more harder-hit balls (95+ mph) than their opponent. A lot! Consider, then, that on Thursday, Jays batters had 10 hits in 15 at-bats with an exit velocity less than 83 mph, including four hits by George Springer. Is that a shift in defence or a shift in philosophy?
Alek Manoah: (3.2 IP; 9H; 5R/ER; 2BB; 3SO) There had been spring concern about the Blue Jays young ace and diminished fastball velocity. On this opening day, he threw 11 pitches at 95+ mph. His fastball was fine. Manager John Schneider, in the post-game praised his stuff but suggested the problem may have been in pitch selection at certain key mements.
Manoah on Thursday posted what may be his worst numbers in 52 career starts. Is it a coincidence that Thursday was also Manoah’s first regular season attempt at calling his own pitches via PitchCom, the ugly keypad attachment on the side of the glove that lets catcher Alejandro Kirk know through an earpiece what his man is going to throw.
There may be a long-term problem. It is a long season, with 30-34 starts and over 3,000 pitches. In its purest form, the art of pitching is a smoothly choreographed dance, wherein graceful and proper execution is more important than pitch selection.
Kirk is Alek’s personal catcher. They work well together and did in 2022 when he was a Cy Young Top 3 nominee. For Manoah to now place himself in charge of thinking pitch clock, pitch selection, pitch location, plus holding baserunners, with a step-off max may be asking too much. You only have four pitches. Use your catcher. Free your mind.
Mark Buehrle when he was a Blue Jay, told me he would never shake off his catcher and said he never cared who was behind the plate because if he was surprised by the sign, then, likely, so would be the hitters. Keep the pad, use the catcher. It’s a long and grinding season.
Improved Defence:
*In the first inning, new left fielder, Daulton Varsho, corralled a flyball single on the foul line after a high bounce, made sure the runner from first was holding at third, then threw to second base to keep it to a single. That is a fundamental play, but was highly praised because it might not have happened a year ago. Low bar.
*In the second inning, the new right fielder, former centre fielder, Springer, saved two runs with a spectacular diving catch with two men on.
*Zach Pop came on in the fourth, with a runner on first and one out in a tie game. A hard ground ball by Nolan Arenado was turned into a smooth around-the-horn double play by Matt Chapman and Whit Merrifield.
*First and third, one out, already a run down in the seventh, Guerrero Jr. twitched quickly to his right, fielded a high topspin grounder and fired across his body to nail Tyler O’Neill at the plate. In the top of the eighth, Vlad then drove in two runs with a single to right.
*Again trailing by a run in the eighth, with a runner on second, Kevin Kiermaier raced in and slid for a nice catch off O’Neill. The Jays bounced back and won it in the ninth.
*Yes, Bo Bichette did struggle defensively the entire game, but criticism of his decision-making in the first inning was unwarranted. Brendan Donovan grounded a ball past a diving Chapman that was fielded in the hole, still on the dirt. Bo’s throw sailed over first and one hopped the netting. Some of the thinking was that he should not have thrown the ball. The truth is that it was the first groundball of the season with a 3-0 lead. There is not a 25-year-old shortstop with a strong arm in the game that would not have thrown that ball. A great throw would have retired Donovan. The key was not to airmail it into the seats.
Improved baserunning: Blue Jays’ runners on this day provided more good reads than the New York Times best sellers list. Kiermaier went first to third and set up the winning run on a Springer bloop single in the ninth. Vlad drove in a pair in the eighth and took second on the throw. Bo in the first, knowing he had a terrific jump from second base on a great read of a Kirk lob shot single to centre, ran through a Luis Rivera stop sign, scoring easily. Rivera was expecting a normal lead and read from a normal baserunner.
Bullpen shakiness and Schneider: Zach Pop, Erik Swanson and Jordan Romano…good. Tim Mayza, Anthony Bass and Yimi Garcia…bad. Adam Cimber…what you should expect. Sure, perhaps Schneider should have left Pop in to finish the fifth and left Swanson in to finish the sixth, but with an off day on Friday, the Jays’ analytics crew must have had a plan for nailing down a lead in middle to late innings. With new parts in the pen, Schneider must now find his own trust and ideal roles for the new crew.
All in all, a great way to head into an off day for a team that has now allowed 17 runs in the last two opening days and won them both.
Buckle up everybody, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride🙂👍⚾️
Thanks for rubbing it in my friend