Opening day is two weeks away and will be here before we know it. As many of us pay attention to the “madness” of college basketball, there are some great opening week match-ups in Major League Baseball. Which teams will stumble early? Which players, making debuts with new teams, will make immediate impacts?
Not every opening day starter has been named, so we’ll have to make some assumptions here. Pitching matchups alone make for great opening day matchups, so we’ve listed off a few worth watching:
Here are your four-best matchups on MLB’s Opening Day.
1) Kansas City at Detroit: James Shields (KC) likely will face Justin Verlander (DET). The Royals need to make a push this Summer after showing some improvement last year. The Tigers, on the other hand, need to show they aren’t taking a step back after trading away Prince Fielder, two years after signing him to a gigantic deal.
2) Philadelphia at Texas: Cliff Lee (PHI) likely gets the start against Yu Darvish (TEX). The Phillies were a mess last year and the Rangers fell short of lofty expectations. Each team dealt with losing key players this off-season, but still have enough talent to compete. The question is whether or not their high spending habits can lead to victories
3) Boston at Baltimore: Regardless of who starts for these two teams, the AL East is going to be a season long grind. It’ll be interesting to see if Boston finds the magic again, and if the Orioles can continue to improve. The Orioles brought in some veterans…but we’ve read that book before.
4) Cleveland at Oakland: Masterson (CLE) will face a young, quality pitcher…regardless of who the Athletics throw out there. Even with the injuries to A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker, the A’s have a team that will compete. They always do. Cleveland, like the A’s, have talent all over their roster. They made a commitment to Masterson and have young guys who are looking to break on to the scene. It’s possible we’ll see these two teams face each other in the playoffs if they play to their potential.
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