Good morning Yankees family and welcome, finally, to Opening
Day 2018! The grass has been cut, the lines have been painted on, the infield
dirt has been saturated with the perfect amount of moisture, and Major League
Baseball is now ready to kick this season off. The New York Yankees start the
2018 season inside the Rogers Centre, a dome in Toronto and home of the Toronto
Blue Jays, so they will be playing on Astroturf and in 72-degree weather, but
Opening Day baseball is Opening Day baseball regardless. Kicking off their
respective 2018 campaigns will be the Luis Severino for the Yankees and J.A.
Happ for the Blue Jays who both received Opening Day nods from their managers. Both
offenses are ready, the pitchers are ready, and so are the fans, so let’s do
this thing!
Severino will make his first Opening Day start of his career
this afternoon in Toronto after coming off a strong 2017 campaign that saw him
place third in the American League Cy Young Award vote. Severino, while successful
last season, struggled against the Blue Jays in particular in 2017 posting an
0-1 record with a 4.97 ERA in two starts. Severino will have to do better than
that this afternoon, or maybe he won’t with the potential juggernaut of an
offense behind him, and will also have to quell his adrenaline as well as to
avoid a repeat of the 2017 American League Wild Card Game where he struggled,
later admitting he was too pumped up and excited which led to his command and
control being a bit off.
Happ earns his first Opening Day nod as well, but for an
entirely different set of reasons than Severino. Happ will take the ball for
Toronto today due to their ace, Marcus Stroman, injuring his right shoulder early
on during Spring Training camp this season. Happ, again like Severino, faced
the Yankees twice during the 2017 campaign allowing just two runs in 11.2
innings. Last season Happ didn’t have to face Giancarlo Stanton though, so that
may change for the 2018 season. Stay tuned.
The game will be played at 3:37 pm ET inside Rogers Centre
in Toronto and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also listen to the game
in your cars, on the radio, and when you’re at work like I will be today by
tuning into the WFAN broadcast with the legendary John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.
Enjoy the game, hit some homers, and start the 2018 season off right. Go
Yankees!!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)