MLB Blogcast: Episode 1

Leading Off with Opening Week Action!Opening Week of the 2015 Major League Baseball season is officially in the books. Over the course of 91 games in 8 days, we have witnessed a miscellany of home runs, defensive plays, pitching performances, and entertaining results (including a few wild walk-offs). Baseball fans still have adrenaline being pumped into their bloodstreams as they await with anticipation what’s going to happen next.

Season Opener Leads to Lots of ZerosTo summarize everything that happened throughout this first week of 2015's regular season ballgames would be undoubtedly difficult, but nothing could exemplify the beginning of this week better than the very first baseball game that took place on Sunday night between the reigning National League Central division champions in the St. Louis Cardinals took on a reconstructed Chicago Cubs team in Wrigley Field. A team with quite a few new faces (including highly esteemed starting pitcher Jon Lester, relief pitcher Phil Coke, former Cardinal reliever Jason Motte, outfielder Dexter Fowler, catcher David Ross, and former Rays manager Joe Maddon) versus a team with plenty of familiar ones (although their highlight player was Jason Heyward, whom St. Louis signed during the offseason).

The game ended in a shutout, the first of 6 teams to post a shutout during their season opener. Pitchers certainly seem to have the upper hand against batters early in the season, as the baseball world witnessed 13 shutouts over the course of 4 days (including the Cardinals/Cubs game). To put that in perspective, over 35% of all games played up until April 8 ended in a shutout. This is not to say that baseball fanatics didn’t get to watch teams produce a few hot streaks. However, most of these noted games were blowouts where one team held out the other to 0 runs, including Kyle Kendrick’s brilliant performance that helped the Rockies trample over the suffering Brewers, 10-0, and the A’s going double time on the Rangers (8-0 & 11-0, respectively) with Sonny Gray taking a no-hit bid into the 8th inning, and Scott Kazmir throwing 7 innings of 1-hit ball two days later; the Rangers would get the last laugh, though, as they mounted a double-digit figure of runs in a 10-1 victory to avoid the sweep, though.

Walk it OffDigressing from pitching, what good would Opening Week be without a few offensive players coming in the clutch with a few wild walk-off wins? The Reds have won 2 ballgames in dramatic fashion already, as they defeated the Pirates in their last at-bat in back-to-back games. The first one was a game-winning single by Joey Votto, making a good impression to Reds fans after battling with thigh injuries. The second was due to a missed catch, after Marlon Byrd hit any catchable line drive right to Gregory Polanco that, instead of making the easy play, hit off the webbing of his glove and allowed the run to score from third base.

Extra-ExtraIn addition to walk-offs, there have been quite a few extra-inning games. None stand out more, however, than a thrilling rivalry matchup between the Red Sox and Yankees in New York. The game lasted 19 innings and ended in the Red Sox’s favor after Mookie Betts hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring Xander Bogaerts home, and officially ended after a superb 6-4-3 double play. Don’t let the result fool you, though. 3 home runs were hit—2 by the Yankees when they needed a run to stay alive-- at crucial times in this fatiguing game played at the current Yankee Stadium.

(For more on the Yankees, we interviewed fellow Sports Genius Baseball Editor @ChiddyShadyFiasco, who talks about the Yankees' desperate need to score runs.)

Two Perfect Teams; Both in the AL CentralTigers: Setting the Record Straight to 6 Straight VictoriesMany baseball broadcasters predicted before the season that the Tigers would be a heavy candidate to win the American League Central this year. One can make a very strong argument for that. After all, they’ve won every division title since 2011. However, they had shoes to fill with their pitching: they have to make up for 30+ starts by former Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer (who moved to his new home in Washington in his year of free agency), Rick Porcello was traded to the Red Sox for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, reliever Alex Wilson, and minor league pitcher Gabe Speier. Cespedes is fitting in nicely on the offensive end, now securely being placed in the #6 spot. Defensively, he had his moment on Opening Day, robbing a home run in left field. However, we’re still waiting on an outfield assist from that laser arm of his.

However, what has gotten sports fans talking is, although two decent pitchers left the organization during the offseason and although their (former) ace Justin Verlander is still recovering from a triceps injury, the Tigers have accumulated one of the greatest Opening Week team stats in Major League history. David Price, the only Cy Young winner who has pitched for the Tigers in the 2015 season thus far, pitched 8 2/3 shutout innings—the first 8 completed in only 85 pitches and retiring the first 13 batters he faced early in the game -- to excite a roaring crowd in Comerica Park against the Twins. Anibal Sanchez pitched 6 2/3 innings in his first out, leading the Tigers to another victory with 0’s on the opponent’s row of the scoreboard. After two games, the Tigers pulled off what the Nationals did last year: winning back-to-back games via shutout. (More on the Nationals later in the blogcast.)

Aside from an unearned run-- courtesy of a Cespedes error-- the streak of not allowing an earned run to open the season continued to 32 innings, which tied the modern record set by the 1963 Cardinals. No Verlander? No Scherzer? No Porcello? No problem.

Of course, taking into account that a lineup with arguably the greatest hitter in baseball in Miguel Cabrera, an incredibly powerful J.D. Martinez who hit the first home run of the 2015 season, along with (at least) 7 other solid offensive players in the lineup (who have stolen an American League-leading 10 bases so far), things are looking pretty good for the Tigers. In fact, it is… Grrrrrrreat!

Royals: They Got the PowerInversely, when compared to Detroit, Kansas City is not exactly known for their offensive power. Their lights-out speed? Yes. Their lights-out bullpen? Absolutely? Their stellar defense? Check; Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain are two of the best defensive players in the game. Baseball analysts considered those three elements the core of the Royals' regular season and postseason run.

Surprisingly, not many people talked about the Royals. Maybe it was because there weren't many changes made during the offseason, but the Royals have definitely re-opened many people's eyes by showing just how good they are with a very similar lineup and pitching staff. They re-started and re-finished what they started and finished at the 2014 ALDS by sweeping the Angels again, they annihilated newly acquired Jeff Samardzija in the season opener, and they're still striking out at the league's minimal rate (their total of 33 K's is the least in the Majors).

Having said all of that, they have added the one aspect many pundits did not expect before the beginning of the season: power. A team that ranked dead-last in the home run category (95-- 14 less than any team in the Majors), it seems like the Royals may have added another weapon to their arsenal. In their first week of regular season play, they are currently second in batting average (.327), home runs (9), RBI (39), and slugging percentage (.537).

They may not have it in the (power) rankings, but they definitely have our attention with the power of their bats now.

Surprises of the WeekArchie Bradley Shines in Big League Debut:It's not every day a rookie outduels Clayton Kershaw in his major league debut, but Arizona's Archie Bradley did just that on Saturday. He pitched six innings of one-hit ball, striking out six Dodgers. He did surrender four walks so he'll need to rein in his control, but let's chalk that up to first start jitteriness.

(This image would be interesting for a caption contest. As we all know, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez had one of the most impressive Opening Weeks in recent memory: 5 home runs in the first 3 games-- which has never been done before in MLB history-- while leading in at least 9 offensive categories, including home runs, hits, runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and total bases.)

Jake Marisnick's Bat Comes Alive:Marisnick is one-third of Houston's defensively sound outfield, but his offense made waves over Opening Week. Not typically known for his prowess in the batter's box, Marisnick's now sitting on a .400 average. He collected 6 hits in 15 at-bats, including a double and home run. His slugging percentage and OPS sit at .667 and 1.078, respectively.

Kimbrel? Who's That?The Braves are in first place in the NL East after the season's first week, and that's largely due to the effectiveness of their bullpen. After trading flamethrowing closer Craig Kimbrel and other talented pieces, the Braves were expected to rot away in mediocrity this season as they rebuild. While that may eventually prove to be true, all's well in Atlanta for now.

The bullpen has only allowed one run, striking out 22 hitters and walking 6; 4 of those walks came exclusively from Juan Jaime. Jason Grilli has stepped into the closer's role since the Kimbrel trade, converting all three of his save opportunities. To top it all off, opposing batters have only managed a .093 batting average against the relief corps.

Disappointments of the WeekPower Outage In Houston:Over the offseason, the Houston Astros went out and bolstered their lineup, trading for power hitter Evan Gattis. Along with George Springer and Chris Carter, the middle of the Astros' lineup was guaranteed to pack a punch... and strike out. Unfortunately, more of the latter happened during Opening Week.

Gattis has suffered the most on his new team, going hitless in 20 at-bats and striking out a whopping 12 times. His power should come around soon, especially with the short porch at Minute Maid Park. Chris Carter, MLB's leading strikeout artist, has hit .053 to open the season to go along with 8 strikeouts. George Springer performed the best out of the three, hitting .174 with a double, RBI, two stolen bases, and 10 strikeouts.

(Refer to what Sports Genius Community Leader @MrXercules had to say about the Stros' strikeout rate and their desperate need to put the ball in play in our exclusive interview.)

It's also worth noting that Jed Lowrie and Jake Marisnick provided most of the offense for Houston this week.

Clayton Kershaw's Ineffectiveness:Dodgers fans were eager to see their ace bounce back after a disappointing exit in the 2014 postseason, but Kershaw didn't come through in Opening Week. Last year's NL MVP and Cy Young Winner toed the rubber twice this week, compiling a 0-1 record with a 5.84 ERA. He left both of his starts with the Dodgers trailing. While this shouldn't be a sign of things to come, given Kershaw's insane talent, it's currently a cause of concern for his fantasy owners.

Jenrry Mejia Busted For PEDs:It didn't take long to see our first drug-related suspension of the season. Mets closer Jenrry Mejia was placed on the disabled list with right elbow inflammation and was expected to be sidelined for a few weeks, until his 80-game suspension for PED use was announced.

Mejia used Stanozolol, a PED culprit in multiple sports aside from baseball. Manager Terry Collins and third baseman David Wright both expressed their disappointment with Mejia, whose suspension left a gaping hole in a decimated Mets bullpen.

To all you baseball junkies out there, we'd like to turn it over to you, the reader:

- Who do you root for? Who's your team/favorite player?
- What are some of the general thoughts you currently have of the 2015 season?
- Is there anything you'd like us to talk about in next week's post?

And finally:
- Who was the Player of the Week, in your opinion? (Nominate your pick in the comments below!)

Catch us next week on Sports Genius's MLB Blogcast, where we blog about baseball, and you cast your votes below!