Roy Halladay was on top of his game in his first start in the National League, allowing one run in seven innings with nine strikeouts to pick up his first win with the Philadelphia Phillies. To me, he is the odds on favorite to win the National League Cy Young award and could easily win 20 games this season. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Monday…
Hitters:
Placido Polanco delivered a grand slam for his new club and hit second in the batting order. That pushed Shane Victorino down to seventh in the line up which means Victorino will see a drop in runs scored this season.
Albert Pujols had some injury issues in spring training but once the lights came on for real, he delivered in his usual stellar fashion going 4-for-5 with two home runs.
Colby Rasmus went 2-for-4 with his first home run of the season hitting 5th for the St. Louis Cardinals. There is a great chance he hits over 20 home runs in his second go round in the major leagues.
Wonder how many people are kicking themselves today for passing on David Wright at the end of the first round? Wright delivered an opposite field home run at home in the New York Mets 7-1 win over the Florida Marlins.
Garrett Jones delivered two home runs with three runs scored and three RBI and catcher Ryan Doumit added a three-run shot as the Pittsburgh Pirates hammered the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-5.
Comeback kids Alex Rios of the Chicago White Sox and Vernon Wells of the Toronto Blue Jays both went yard on opening day.
Carlos Gomez went 4-for-5 with his first home run of the year and a stolen base in the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Jim Edmonds got the start for the Brewers in right field over Corey Hart and went 1-for-4.
The opening day line up for the Atlanta Braves was pretty impressive as they beat up the Chicago Cubs 16-5. Rookie Jason Heyward went 2-for-5 with four RBI and homered in his first at bat of the game. Shortstop Yunel Escobar added five RBI. Nate McLouth was dropped to 8th in the batting order with Melky Cabrera moved up to lead off.
Second basemen Chris Getz went 2-for-4 with a stolen base for the Kansas City Royals. If you are looking for stolen bases and he is on the waiver wire still, go and grab him.
Kyle Blanks hit his first home run of the season for the San Diego Padres hitting clean up. If there is a player that comes out of no where to hit 30 home runs this season, Blanks would be the person to do it.
Pitchers:
Opening day starter Vicente Padilla for the Dodgers? That did not work out so well. Padilla was shelled for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings with two strikeouts.
Mark Buehrle had an easy day at the office against the Cleveland Indians, working seven scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Shaun Marcum carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but finished the game with a no-decision after allowing a three-run home run to Nelson Cruz. Marcum struck out six in seven innings of work.
Carlos Zambrano allowed eight runs in 1 1/3 innings leaving him with a 54 ERA after his first start of the season. Zambrano surrendered two home runs, six hits and also hit a batter.
Zack Greinke allowed one run in six innings with four strikeouts but was denied a win after the bullpen coughed up the lead.
News of Tim Lincecum’s loss of velocity in spring training did not appear to be evident Monday night as he hurled seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. He was hitting 94 on the gun, but what sets him apart from other pitchers is his ability to throw his change up at any time or any count and get hitters out.
Ben Sheets was hitting 94 on the gun for the Oakland A’s but had trouble locating his fastball and curveball in the strike zone. As a result, he only made it through five innings before hitting 94 pitches. He allowed four hits and four walks with three strikeouts.
Closers:
Jason Frasor of the Blue Jays failed to deliver in his first save opportunity of the season, allowing five baserunners in 1/3 of an inning as he took the loss.
Franklin Morales converted his first save try filling in for the injured Huston Street for the Rockies.
