MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL IS BACK

By Ryan Horvath

Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2017/12/09/stanton-and-judge-can-take-aim-at-yankees-legendary-duos/

Major League Baseball has one of the shortest off-seasons of any professional sport.  With that being said, spring is here and so is baseball.  Opening day was on Thursday of last week.  The offseason had some crazy deals go down, which made this season very highly anticipated.  The reigning National League MVP, Hank Aaron Award recipient and Silver Slugger Award winner, Giancarlo Stanton, went to the most dominant team in MLB history, the New York Yankees.  He joined the reigning American League rookie of the year, Aaron Judge,  to combine for what I believe to be the scariest combination of power hitters in at least 20 years.

Judge and Stanton combined for 111 long-balls last year (Stanton hit 59 and Judge hit 52) which is incredibly the only pairing to do that and be on the same team the next year since Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in the 1961 season.  On opening day, Stanton hit two home runs and had 4 runs batted in, or RBI’s for short.  Judge went 2-4 and had a walk.  Not bad for the two most formidable power hitters in the league.

The Chicago Cubs also had an incredible opening day.  Ian Happ, the Cubs lead-off hitter, walked up to the plate and on the very first pitch of the 2018 MLB season pulled a fastball and hit it very high, and very long for a home run.  This is just the second time in history that the first pitch of the entire MLB season has been hit for a home run. The first was Dwight Evans in 1986.  Perhaps this year the Cubs can win it again? They certainly possess the star-filled roster to do it.

On the other side of Chicago, the White Sox had a little magic in their back pocket as well.  On opening day, Matt Davidson hit home runs in the fourth and fifth innings.  Hitting two home runs on opening day is a feat in-and-of itself.  However, Davidson wasn’t done yet.  In the eighth inning, he absolutely blasted a three-run frozen rope shot to left field.  The White Sox went on to win 14-7 and Davidson contributed a total of 5 RBI’s. 

Retreived from http://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/phillies/phillies-set-date-jake-arrietas-regular-season-debut

I have extremely high expectations for the 2018 MLB season.  Teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, who were in a rebuilding process, made some blockbuster moves of their own. The Phillies signed Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta, who are two of the most notable names in baseball. Their prospects are virtually fully developed and they are looking like a team who could cast a blemish on other teams’ records.  I fully believe that this will be one of the most fun-to-watch MLB season and am energized to go on writing about all the stories and headlines that will come with this year of action-packed baseball.