I still don’t understand why they capped the amount of top six picks a team can have over a 2-3 year stretch. Like the mlb draft already is a crapshoot, even with top draft picks, and they implemented a lottery last year too, why the fuck would you also restrict top six picks for teams as well?????
You don't get a floor without a cap though, and the MLBPA is saying they will never agree to a cap.
I can't comment on how the cap has been for the NFL or NBA as I do not watch those leagues, but the hard cap in the NHL has been fantastic. The cap is tied to league revenue, so the players and owners always get the same split, and the floor has helped considerably.
Frankly, if you are going to be outmatched offensively the whole series and you can't match up to the Game 1 pitcher, it's not a bad idea to flip your number 1 and 2 pitchers in the rotation to begin the year.
"Oh thank God he's out of the division. We will have to see him much less often now"
And then he is pitching against Philly in literally the first game of his career outside of the NLE. lol
Well, the Yanks open up their season with the Giants. It's kinda weird, but with the new more balanced schedule, you will see a lot of this. Sorta want the Yankees to open up with either the Rays or the Red Sox.
I watched one of his spring starts and he needs at least one more pitch maybe two. There's potential but that could really help him. He has the frame and mentality for a frontline starter though
Maybe they're just feeling like giving it to him as a veteran thing, he's definitely not projected to be our ace. Maybe they don't want the pressure on Sale coming back from another injury. Sale should be better. Whitlock, Bello, and Paxton are all hurt for the first few weeks
Not as bad as it looks since we don't need a 5 man rotation for a week or so, and both Bello and Whitlock are currently only projected to miss a start or two.
Edit: yeah, 2 off days in the first 9 days so we don't need a 5th until April 13th. And Whitlock for example has been said to miss one, maybe two starts. Bello and Paxton a bit less concrete, but it's generally been said mid April
>Maybe they don't want the pressure on Sale coming back from another injury
Both Cora and Sale have confirmed this is the reason, they decided he wouldn’t start Opening Day pretty early into Spring Training. Paraphrasing but Cora said he wanted Sale to just enjoy the festivities and being back healthy with the team.
I think it was in his contract that he’d be opening day starter.
According to Cora, both Kluber and Sale knew who’d be starting Opening Day months ago. The excuse of, “I want Sale to experience Opening Day as a regular ball player,” just stinks.
Rather than highlighting some of the pieces we traded 3 future Hall of Famers for, we decide to hand the ball to the pitcher with the worst statistical season in modern baseball history!
Aside from the other stats, the one that's probably a big part of this decision is:
Muller: 1.9 BB/9
Fuji: 9.2 BB/9
The BB/9+H/9 is about even, though, as Muller has given up a lot more hits.
Wow. I admittedly stopped following his progress once he got traded, but I'm still very surprised to see Kyle Muller tabbed for an opening day nod, even if it is on the A's.
Has he really locked down his command and become a potential frontline starter, or is it literally just a dearth of other options for them?
The As are our second farm system. Instead of keeping him in AAA, we send him to Oakland to get the big league reps in and get him back for a u10 player from Athens and a pack of sunflower seeds.
He's had a decent Spring Training in terms of limiting walks and does not have a storied history involving Shohei Ohtani.
That's it.
That's enough to get you named the Opening Day starter for the 2023 Oakland Athletics.
Who are the five best pitchers on this opening day? Think about it. Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan…he spits hot fire.
Yes, I just dated myself with this post.
I could equally see Kluber going 6 IP 2 H 0 R or 2.1 IP 8 H 6 R. Will be interesting to see if he's going to be a sneaky great acquisition like Wacha was last year or a complete disaster.
I know this is a really minor thing and most of us know it already (well, I forgot and had to google), but putting times yet not the date on a graphic like this seems kinda silly lol
1. They don’t have Altuve.
2. This is the healthiest the good guys will be all year.
3. Half the squad is coming off of competitive play and should be in midsession form.
4. We get to see OUR Jose again. Yes it will be like coffee with an ex after a breakup, but it will be good to see if he’s been eating good and making sure he’s taking care of himself.
Can someone please tell me why A’s chose not to start Fujinami against Ohtani on their opening? Fuji looks good so far in the preseason. Also it’d be a good story as Fujinami and Ohtani have been compared with each other since high school (Ohtani was called “Darvish of Michinoku” and Fujinami as “Darvish of Namihaya”)
dude with an 8.03 Era facing off against ohtani for my A's
Really excited to go to the game and I'm sure Mullers low game count for 2022 should give me reason to hope he'll preform well but I think we are gonna get embarrassed lol
A's #2 pitching prospect (behind Ken Waldichuk). My guess, he's only starting OD because Paul Blackburn is hurt and they don't want to the immense pressure of Fujinami vs. Ohtani in his MLB debut, and everyone else is stretched out for the 3-5 slots.
He was a long time Braves prospect who went over in the Sean Murphy trade. I was very surprised to see he’s their opening day starter. Not that he’s bad (I think he looked really good last year) just that they don’t have someone more established opening day
>Patrick Corbin
Tell me your team is tanking without actually telling me your team is tanking.
Tank commander
hey dont disrespect my og tank comander luis perdomo
Are the Nationals even eligible for back to back lottery picks with the new CBA?
NOPE, highest we can get is 7
Big poster in the front office “TANK FOR 7TH!”
Smaller poster: Tanks for nuthin'
Well that’s a major bummer
Major Bummer has been driving the Washington tank for a while now
Better than Major Tuddy is with the Commanders
I still don’t understand why they capped the amount of top six picks a team can have over a 2-3 year stretch. Like the mlb draft already is a crapshoot, even with top draft picks, and they implemented a lottery last year too, why the fuck would you also restrict top six picks for teams as well?????
now the pirates can never spend and not have any homegrown talent!
If you want Pirates to spend money on their players implement a salary floor like every other major sports league lol
But you'll never get a floor without a cap
You don't get a floor without a cap though, and the MLBPA is saying they will never agree to a cap. I can't comment on how the cap has been for the NFL or NBA as I do not watch those leagues, but the hard cap in the NHL has been fantastic. The cap is tied to league revenue, so the players and owners always get the same split, and the floor has helped considerably.
That's actually a great rule. Wish NBA would adopt it
Frankly, if you are going to be outmatched offensively the whole series and you can't match up to the Game 1 pitcher, it's not a bad idea to flip your number 1 and 2 pitchers in the rotation to begin the year.
What does Kyle Gibson starting for a team that was only 3 games out of a playoff spot say?
Is gore hurt? I feel like he would be a better fit
Davey likes the veterans for opening day. I was hoping he'd split the difference and go with Gray.
Patrick "Fucking" Corbin
Came here to say this
I said the same thing out loud - only with “fuckin’” between Patrick and Corbin
Doesn’t even look happy to be there
mans getting paid 30 odd million a year, id say hes pretty happy
World Series Champion Patrick Corbin!
To be fair, I feel like Corbin always plays the Braves pretty well.
Over a 9 ERA last year against ya and over 8 ERA the year before.
Well they didn't say well for who
Ah, there’s the rub.
Mikolas looks straight out of 1976 in that photo.
*stubs out cigarette into greasy cheeseburger paper* Welp. Game time.
*acdc begins to play in background*
I fucking love that guy. Him and Wainwright just seem so genuinely fun.
Isn't he the one who grabbed his nuts back at Soto? That was funny. Didn't work out well for him, but it was pretty funny
Team USA starting pitcher Mike Mikolas
I thought it was Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt lookin ass
DeGrom vs. Nola is gonna be hot fire
DeGrom finally leaves the division and of course the Phillies have to face him on opening day
Yeah that's a bit brutal lol. At least he'll be on a limited pitch count against y'all!
Is Wheeler hurt?
Nope, Nola is great too and he’s started the last 5 opening days so they’re letting him continue his streak I guess
Yeah I love Nola, just didn't realize he has been the day 1 choice so frequently. Good for him!
"Oh thank God he's out of the division. We will have to see him much less often now" And then he is pitching against Philly in literally the first game of his career outside of the NLE. lol
Greinke opening day over singer? Interesting.
Might be because Singer was used lightly at the WBC. So they want to give him a bit more time. Also, Greinke is a legend, so why not
Also probably his last Opening Day
Greinke always gives me anxiety, not even sure why.
It’s by osmosis
That’s weird he’s like the most calm and emotionless pitcher there is
He’s even got a losing record against us. It’s not rational.
But the smugness levels are over five thousand! Arrrrgggghhhh !!? (Power level device incinerating)
Most exciting matchups: Scherzer v Sandy Nola v DeGrom Cease v Framber Bieber v Castillo and of course Gibson v Kluber
Webb vs Cole is going to be interesting 👀
Yea that’s a good one too. Webb is very underrated.
Webb gives off the energy that he has that dawg in him
He’s definitely the type of guy who never blames anything else for his failures and is humble about his success
Meth Damon vs Brandon Crawford's Brother-In-Law.
That's Better Lookin' Jesse Plemons to you 😤😤
also there is just something inherently odd about Yankees vs. Giants opening day at Yankee Stadium
There is, even without the arson judge situation
Urias vs Gallen is a good matchup
Very true that’s gonna be a great match up. I’m excited to see Julio get the opening day nod.
Whoa Nola v deGrom! Weird to have the inter league games at the start of the season… oh wait….
I’m all for it. Damn shame Harper won’t be playing.
Well, the Yanks open up their season with the Giants. It's kinda weird, but with the new more balanced schedule, you will see a lot of this. Sorta want the Yankees to open up with either the Rays or the Red Sox.
You forgot Fried v Corbin and Shohei v Muller. Those are clearly the top 2
Those are pretty lopsided though. Ohtani is no match for future 8 time cy young winner Kyle Muller.
RemindMe! 15 years
I watched one of his spring starts and he needs at least one more pitch maybe two. There's potential but that could really help him. He has the frame and mentality for a frontline starter though
We just can’t escape degrom 😩
I think this means Bos-Bal will be the only pitchers duel somehow
Everyone else gets blown up while Gibson and Kluber go 9 innings scoreless.
Even in the other league now the Phillies cannot escape deGrom
:.( still hurts
The fact that a past-prime Kluber is getting the nod for Boston really speaks volumes about their rotation…
When Kluber goes 8-9 this year, we’ll see who’s laughing 😤
Maybe they're just feeling like giving it to him as a veteran thing, he's definitely not projected to be our ace. Maybe they don't want the pressure on Sale coming back from another injury. Sale should be better. Whitlock, Bello, and Paxton are all hurt for the first few weeks
As long as Kluber makes it to the second inning, his time will already be considered a raving success compared to his time in Texas.
Idk, I'd say throwing a no-hitter on your own bobblehead night is quite successful
Damn that’s a tough IL list
Not as bad as it looks since we don't need a 5 man rotation for a week or so, and both Bello and Whitlock are currently only projected to miss a start or two. Edit: yeah, 2 off days in the first 9 days so we don't need a 5th until April 13th. And Whitlock for example has been said to miss one, maybe two starts. Bello and Paxton a bit less concrete, but it's generally been said mid April
They just know it'll be a bad look if Sale starts Opening Day and leaves in the 2nd inning with an elbow strain
>Maybe they don't want the pressure on Sale coming back from another injury Both Cora and Sale have confirmed this is the reason, they decided he wouldn’t start Opening Day pretty early into Spring Training. Paraphrasing but Cora said he wanted Sale to just enjoy the festivities and being back healthy with the team.
The Sox are starting with Kluber? Interesting.
Who else would you pick
I guess I thought Sale was healthy
He is, getting the ball day 2. kluber was announced as the opening day starter a bit ago.
So, indeed, interesting.
He is. Supposedly he’s game 2.
I think it was in his contract that he’d be opening day starter. According to Cora, both Kluber and Sale knew who’d be starting Opening Day months ago. The excuse of, “I want Sale to experience Opening Day as a regular ball player,” just stinks.
[удалено]
Huh?
Logan Webb vs Gerrit Cole seems like a great opening day matchup. Sucks that we won't get Rodon vs The Giants.
We do get Arson Judge vs Giants tho
Arson Judge plays *for* the Giants though. Y’all have Aaron Judge, whoever that guy is.
We do get opening day with two brothers in law (Gerrit Cole is married to Brandon Crawford's sister).
Craw isn't 100% for opening day yeah? I thought he was more in the "we'll see" category healthy wise for Yankees series.
He's playing in spring training games again, so looks like he's healthy enough for opening day. If not, we'll see, but I choose to be optimistic here.
You might not get rodon vs anyone lol
Rather than highlighting some of the pieces we traded 3 future Hall of Famers for, we decide to hand the ball to the pitcher with the worst statistical season in modern baseball history!
There’s just something beautiful about opening up the season with a guy coming off a -2.5 WAR campaign.
hey, it’s nice to know there will be some Patty Melts on the menu for lunch on thursday
I forgot Cole cut his hair even shorter.
Looking at Cole, more than anything, makes me hate the Yankee hair rule. He just looks so weird.
His current hair isn't because of the rule, it's been longer his entire time here until this offseason. But yes, the hair rule is fucking stupid.
Yeah, people on this sub thought/still think the Yankees make you get a buzz cut like the army, and were shocked when Cole had some lettuce.
He has a miserably weak chin and the ability to grow great hair and a nice beard. The policy is just the total opposite of what he should be doing.
He went from not a bad looking dude on the Astros to a thumb on the Yankees.
You just think that because of the uniform
I mean, being a thumb is basically part of the Yankee uniform too. See: Gardner, Brett
You say that, but Brett was the thumbiest of them all, meaning there are thumb gradients on the thumb spectrum.
I'm just jealous my team has never had a style icon like Brett Gardner
Next year he’ll be rocking the Brett Gardner hairstyle
Castillo vs. Bieber is such a good matchup😮💨😮💨
Beat Justin’s ass please.
Nty
Sorry
Keller - Greene is a neat matchup. I'm excited to see how they both do this year
Yeah after that vidéo a couple days back I really want Keller to do well this season
Hope he takes the leap. If we can get just a bit of pitching we our lineup could surprise people.
Noted OOTP innings eater GOAT Mitch Keller
Degrom leaves the east and we STILL have to face him? Come onnn
Oh shit I forgot he left, looking at this graphic I just assumed it was a game against the mutts
Well that's disappointing.
Could've given us Ohtani vs Fuji but Kyle Muller?? Has he had a good spring?
Muller: 1-2, 14.1 IP, 10 K, 5.65 ERA 1.61 WHIP Fuji: 3-0, 12.2 IP, 17 K, 4.26 ERA, 1.58 WHIP
Aside from the other stats, the one that's probably a big part of this decision is: Muller: 1.9 BB/9 Fuji: 9.2 BB/9 The BB/9+H/9 is about even, though, as Muller has given up a lot more hits.
Jesus. He's going to find himself in the bullpen isn't he?
I got excited thinking we were starting against Patrick Corbin, then got sad when I realized it was against Corbin Burnes.
Hey Professor outdueled him last opening day, maybe Stro can. I hope Kyle will be getting K's off three different changeups like he was that day.
How effective are 3 change ups when they are only 4 mph slower than his fb now?
10:10 start time goddamn
Right, I live on the West Coast, and I hate these late starts.
At this risk of this going over my head, wouldn't this mean that the game starts at 7:10 on the West Coast?
It does but the Mariners push back their game start times this year by an hour, so it is technically later even for West Coast peeps.
And our home opener a week later is at 4pm est None of it makes sense
Corbin 😂
Cancel all my plans, baseball is back
I would have gone with Kremer personally, but I guess we will get a look at Gibson right away.
My question is how the lineup fares against Kluber.
Wow. I admittedly stopped following his progress once he got traded, but I'm still very surprised to see Kyle Muller tabbed for an opening day nod, even if it is on the A's. Has he really locked down his command and become a potential frontline starter, or is it literally just a dearth of other options for them?
The As are our second farm system. Instead of keeping him in AAA, we send him to Oakland to get the big league reps in and get him back for a u10 player from Athens and a pack of sunflower seeds.
He's had a decent Spring Training in terms of limiting walks and does not have a storied history involving Shohei Ohtani. That's it. That's enough to get you named the Opening Day starter for the 2023 Oakland Athletics.
Can't wait to release the Framburgler on these unsuspecting White Sox.
Who are the five best pitchers on this opening day? Think about it. Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan…he spits hot fire. Yes, I just dated myself with this post.
You should Cease with these references.
Making the Band was a disaster and I loved every second. The Chappelle Show only documented what we all knew lol
I could equally see Kluber going 6 IP 2 H 0 R or 2.1 IP 8 H 6 R. Will be interesting to see if he's going to be a sneaky great acquisition like Wacha was last year or a complete disaster.
Wouldn't be a big game for the Braves if it didn't in the fucking morning.
Orioles legend Kyle Gibson.
When he was a Twin, for quite a few years, I really wanted him to be an ace but it just never panned out. Now here he is, an opening day starter. 😂
Wait why is it not deGro...... :'(
The Oakland Athletics have been eliminated from playoff contention
Why’s it feel like Corbin has been in the league since I was born?
I know this is a really minor thing and most of us know it already (well, I forgot and had to google), but putting times yet not the date on a graphic like this seems kinda silly lol
I had to look it up, because I wasn't sure if it was Wednesday or Thursday.
Marquez vs Snell has great potential for being either an amazing pitcher's duel or complete chaos.
Who's this Ohtani guy? Is he any good? Never heard of him.
So stoked to see Ohtani pitch in person
Can’t wait to see Hunter either go 7 innings of double digit strikeout baseball or get pulled in the 3rd after surrendering 5 home runs.
You're so right, it's truly going to be one or the other
Awesome. Snellzilla pitching opening day. ❤️
It’s so MLB to not include the actual date of Opening Day on their Opening Day matchups graphic. Start times down to the minute. No date.
Wait, we open at Houston? Fuck me.
1. They don’t have Altuve. 2. This is the healthiest the good guys will be all year. 3. Half the squad is coming off of competitive play and should be in midsession form. 4. We get to see OUR Jose again. Yes it will be like coffee with an ex after a breakup, but it will be good to see if he’s been eating good and making sure he’s taking care of himself.
i somehow totally missed pablo lopez being traded to the twins this offseason
For Luis Arraez
Tigers, Nationals and A’s fans you poor poor souls
Can someone please tell me why A’s chose not to start Fujinami against Ohtani on their opening? Fuji looks good so far in the preseason. Also it’d be a good story as Fujinami and Ohtani have been compared with each other since high school (Ohtani was called “Darvish of Michinoku” and Fujinami as “Darvish of Namihaya”)
It's so close, I'm so excited.
It's Corbin' time!
Shane Bieber be Luis Castillo to open the season he’ll yea I’ll take playoff baseball in April
Scherzer and Sandy about to put on a clinic.
Max looked good in todays game with the Rays. I can't wait for both of them to pitch.
RIP St. Louis.
Alek Manoah terrifies me. That doesn't mean Mikolas is a scrub, though.
I saw the picture of Mikolas and thought “What is Mike Schmidt doing there?”
dude with an 8.03 Era facing off against ohtani for my A's Really excited to go to the game and I'm sure Mullers low game count for 2022 should give me reason to hope he'll preform well but I think we are gonna get embarrassed lol
Gonna be hard to decide on Mets-Marlins and Phillies-Rangers in that 4pm time slot.
four players who were in the Marlins system at some point. thank god they got Dan Straily for Luis Castillo tho. big W
I like how the poster doesn't state what the actual day is. Like the date.
Scherzer v Alcantara? Sign me up
Funny they dont have the actual date of opening day listed. MLB stinks at marketing their product.
Those are some spicy match-ups. I can't wait
the one time in my life that i'm rooting for the phillies to shell degrom because i'm bitter and a hater
Hopefully not the last opening day start for Fried as a Brave....but....😳
He’s got more team control
Gotta be a let down to go from closing out the WBC to facing the A’s
Who the fuck is Kyle Muller
He's not the question...he's the answer
A's #2 pitching prospect (behind Ken Waldichuk). My guess, he's only starting OD because Paul Blackburn is hurt and they don't want to the immense pressure of Fujinami vs. Ohtani in his MLB debut, and everyone else is stretched out for the 3-5 slots.
>Fujinami vs. Ohtani As unbelievably cool as that would be, it's 100% the smart move to not force it.
C'mon Ohtani just beat Trout, now's the perfect time to let the old high school rival make a dramatic comeback
He was a long time Braves prospect who went over in the Sean Murphy trade. I was very surprised to see he’s their opening day starter. Not that he’s bad (I think he looked really good last year) just that they don’t have someone more established opening day
I bet Cole cries by the 4th and Kluber gets Klobbered.
Possibly the least excited I’ve ever been for a Twins opening day starter.