Ahhhhhhh... Opening Day! It's one of the finest days in professional sports. Free agents have been signed. Rookies have busted their humps to make the big club. And now we get to see where the chips will fall.
Now that just about every team has one game in the books, let's look back and talk about some fantasy implications that can be drawn from Opening Day. This first day of baseball offers us only a minute sample size to read from. But there are story lines already developing.
It's only one game but...
Did you see what youngsters Jordan Schafer and Emilio Bonifacio did? Schafer hit a home run in his first Major League at-bat (the 99th player in history to do so). He was 2-3 on the night as his Braves team sent a message to the World Champion Phillies that the NL-East wasn't going to be a cake walk. Bonifacio also hit a home run in his first game of the season. His was an inside-the-park job as this kid has speed to burn. Bonifacio was 4-5 with three stolen bases as he hushed the critics that said he was too immature to handle the leadoff role in Florida.
I thought you were an Ace...
Three top-notch staff aces had days to forget on Monday. Cliff Lee gave up ten hits in five innings as he allowed seven earned runs to cross the plate. He was taken in the 6th round of most mock drafts during Spring Training but this could be an early sign that Lee might have been a one-hit wonder in 2008. Brandon Webb is a front-runner for the Cy Young award this season. But he gave up six earned runs yesterday in only four innings. The worst showing of all from high-caliber starting pitchers might have come from C.C. Sabathia. In 4.1 innings he walked five, recorded zero strikeouts, gave up eight hits and allowed six earned runs. Sabathia is typically a slow starter. At least that what fantasy GM's who drafted him in the late third round are hoping.
He's batting where?
It struck me as odd, and quite frankly a disservice to fantasy owners that Matt Kemp, Chris Davis and Chris Iannetta were batting so low in their team's lineups. Kemp hit .290 last season with 18 home runs and 35 stolen bases. But, he hit seventh in the lineup on Opening Day. Chris Davis is projected by many to blast 35 home runs this season. He hit seventh in the Rangers order yesterday and if he continues to do so, his 35 dingers will produce 90 to 100 RBI instead of 120-130 RBI which he'd tally if batting higher in the batting order. Iannetta broke out last season with 18 home runs in 333 at-bats. He even had a home run yesterday. But he batted from the eight hole and that could crush his fantasy value if it continues. Batting so low in the lineup will greatly lessen these sluggers RBI potential and it will surely decrease the number of quality pitches they see. If you own them, you'd better hope they move up in the batting order.
These observations are just that...observations. In no way am I telling you to run out and dump Kemp or Davis or C.C. Sabathia. They're just too valuable, and one game, a season does not make. You also don't need to burn up your modem (remember those?) trying to sign Schafer or Bonifacio. They most likely won't continue on this torrid pace of 162 home runs for Schafer or 486 stolen bases for Bonifacio. Calm down, read into some of my thoughts here. Make some of your own observations and then calmly make a plan and put it into action.
There are 161 games left in the baseball season. No single move that you make today will win the fantasy baseball championship for you. Remember that.
