thelesterlee
2024 MLB Opening Day restored the vibes back. There is truly nothing that gets me more excited about baseball than, well, some baseball. From Mike Trout hitting a BOMB to the Los Angeles Dodgers just being unbelievably unfair, let’s talk about what we learned on Thursday.
Here are the 7 biggest takeaways from 2024 MLB Opening Day:
1. Mike Trout: The Last Man Standing
Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels have some sort of blood oath where Trout must spend his entire Hall of Fame caliber career in Anaheim playing with 24 guys who have no idea what baseball is and were just explained the rules of the sport moments before the game starts.
Trout hit a homer in the 1st inning against the Orioles. The team ended the game with 2 hits. Trout’s 1st inning homer was 50% of the hits the Angels had all day. At age 32 and 3 MVP trophies later, Trout is STILL a one-man machine tasked with carrying this entire organization on his shoulders.
The first #OpeningDay homer belongs to @MikeTrout 💪 pic.twitter.com/vcod7DKCrc
— MLB (@MLB) March 28, 2024
His teammate, Anthony Rendon, told reporters at Spring Training that he doesn’t even like baseball and it’s just another 9-to-5 for him. Rendon went 0-for-4 and struck out twice. He makes $38 million this season.
It’s Mike Trout vs. Everyone and once again, he’s looking like Atlas won’t be shrugging this year.
2. Corbin Burnes is Him
The 2021 Cy Young winner came into 2024 MLB Opening Day with a 6.75 ERA in Spring Training. Burnes jogged onto the field with his ’21 stuff and left his Spring Training stuff in Spring Training.
Making a statement. pic.twitter.com/IR12wALcQh
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 28, 2024
Here’s what Corbin Burnes did against the Angels on Opening Day:
- 6 innings
- 1 ER
- 1 hit
- 11 Ks
- 0 walks
But this is just how Corbin starts his seasons. In 2021, Burnes set a new record with 58 strikeouts before walking his first batter. The Orioles are going to have a fun 2024.
3. Juan Soto: The Messiah
The New York Yankees were coming off a disgusting 2023 season finishing only 2 games above .500 and missing the playoffs. So I was terrified to see my boys starting their 2024 on the road in Houston shortly after placing Gerrit Cole on the 60-day IL.
And the Yankees did everything in their power to lose this game. Nestor Cortes immediately gave Houston a 4-0 lead in the first 2 innings. The hitters grounded into 3 double plays. It felt like the bases were loaded nonstop and no one was scoring.
Thankfully, the wheels fell off Framber Valdez and the Yankees plate discipline helped them sneak some runs over the plate.
But it was Soto’s 9th-inning missile strike to home plate that knocked out the game-tying run.
Juan Soto. New York Yankee. pic.twitter.com/I5bIc26Bzf
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 28, 2024
Juan Soto was put on this planet to win a World Series championship in The Bronx.
4. The Dodgers are a cheat code
Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani are a disgusting trio the Dodgers just get to run out there every single day. Freeman and Betts both hit homers on Opening Day. Ohtani had a single, a double and a walk all while fighting the urge to open up the DraftKings app and put a couple milly down on the Iowa Lady Hawkeyes.
I was nervous about Mookie Betts playing shortstop full time or Freddie Freeman approaching a midlife crisis or Shohei Ohtani quietly blowing out his elbow every other year but nope, the Dodgers just have the best three hitters in the sport batting 1-2-3. Sick.
5. Royce Lewis: The Greatest There Never Was
Royce Lewis was the first player selected in the 2017 MLB Draft. And the Monkey Paw that granted him his wish of wanting to be the first pick, took away his health and any chance for him to ever play.
Here’s what the last few years have been for Royce:
- 2020: Opted out of Covid season
- 2021: Missed all year with a torn ACL
- 2022: Played only 12 games with another torn ACL
- 2023: 15 homers in 58 games but missed most of the season with more leg injuries.
And let’s look at how Royce Lewis is starting his 2024 campaign:
Royce Lewis goes deep in his first at-bat of the season! #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/cb3Re6GXiw
— MLB (@MLB) March 28, 2024
LETS GOOOOO. ITS ROYCE LEWIS SEASON BAY-BEEEEEEEEE.
Royce Lewis is hurt, cancel the season pic.twitter.com/708iBLsAcR
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) March 28, 2024
Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.
6. Tarik Skubal: Cy Young Loading
Earlier this week, I predicted Tarik Skubal would win the Cy Young Award. Welllllll, would you look at this? Skubal is a MONSTER. The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0 thanks to Tarik The Freak.
Here’s what my boy did against the White Sox on Opening Day:
- 6 innings
- 0 runs
- 3 hits
- 6 Ks
- 0 walks
Tarik Skubal’s 3Ks in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/r2j6mrPrwJ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 28, 2024
Make room on the mantle for that trophy, my guy.
7. MLB with another swing and a miss
MLB Opening Day should be one of the biggest days of the year. Schools and banks and shit should be closed. But it doesn’t help when MLB doesn’t schedule any games at 1pm and half the teams play at 10pm Eastern.
This is so easy to do and Rob Manfred is more focused on sneakily changing the stitching on the baseballs from game to game without telling any of the players and forcing them to play in see-through pants.
Oh, and the season is starting with arguably the greatest player in the history of the sport in the midst of a major illegal gambling investigation.
TIGHTEN IT THE FUCK UP, ROBERT.
What are your biggest takeaways from 2024 MLB Opening Day? Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee.
