Notebook 7/23: Major League Baseball Returns

LAST NIGHT

CHC 4, MIN 3 (exhibition)

Most of Twins Territory appears to be ready to pull the plug on Homer Bailey after he served up three dingers over his three innings of work. He was not sharp.

There’s a wide range of potential outcomes with Bailey, but keep in mind that here’s how he pitched from this date forward last season: 11 starts, 65 1/3 IP, 8.27 K/9, 1.65 BB/9, 3.31 ERA, 1.07 WHIP. Bailey was worth 2.0 fWAR over that stretch, tied with Zack Greinke for 11th-best among all pitchers.

In case you missed it, John, Seth and Nick did a live stream after the game ended.

TODAY

Twins OFF

NYY (Gerrit Cole) at WAS (Max Scherzer), 6:08 pm CT

Betting Lines: NYY -1.5, -141, 7.5 O/U

How about this for a pitching matchup to start the season? This is a pitching rematch of Game 1 of the 2019 World Series in which Scherzer and the Nats were victorious 5-4. This will be Cole’s debut with the Yankees after signing a nine-year, $324 million deal with New York back in December.

SFG (Johnny Cueto) at LAD (Clayton Kershaw), 9:08 pm CT

Betting Lines: LAD -1.5, -295, O/U 8.5

And we get another big debut in the night cap, as Brusdar Graterol suits up as a Dodger for the first time. OK, I suppose fellow new Dodger Mookie Betts has a slightly higher profile, huh? This Los Angeles team is absolutely loaded, and widely regarded as the team to beat in the National League this season.

NEWS & NOTES

A significant takeaway from last night’s exhibition was that Byron Buxton and Luis Arráez were not in the starting lineup. Arráez entered the game in the sixth inning as a defensive replacement. Marney Gellner reported during last night’s broadcast that Buxton is not expected to be available for Opening Day.

https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1286106661917274114

We also learned yesterday who will follow José Berríos in the rotation during the opening series. It’ll be Rich Hill in the encore and Kenta Maeda in the finale. Jake Odorizzi will start the season out on the IL due to back soreness.

UPDATE: Here's the Opening Day roster below. Discuss the roster in the Twins Opening Day roster article here.

https://twitter.com/tlschwerz/status/1286333654017376258

SEE ALSO

Postgame Pint: Slow Bats, Sano's Glove & Odo's IL Trip

The 3 Scariest Stretches on the 2020 Twins Schedule

Breaking Records in a 60-Game Season

Half-A-Step Better: How The Twins Are Reinventing Infield Play