MLB Opening Day 2024 results: Yankees win close one in Houston; Diamondbacks score 14 runs in one inning

Joe Espada's parents will see their first game at Minute Maid Park on Thursday — their son's managerial debut. Espada's mother, Miriam, and father, Loly, attended a game in Arlington last season, but some of Loly's health problems prevent him from going to many others. Espada's two daughters, Eliana and Viviana, also got a day off school for their father's managerial debut.

For more on Espada's path to the manager's chair — and to hear from his mother — read here.

Jason Benetti has been making the rounds today, talking with old White Sox colleagues before his new team, the Tigers, opens the season in Chicago.

Just after noon on Thursday, the Cincinnati Reds' Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India were on the field ahead of batting practice talking to their former teammate Nick Senzel, now with the Washington Nationals.

That scene of old teammates reuniting — especially for teams that spend their spring in different states — will be repeated across baseball the next couple of days, but the meeting in Cincinnati has quite a few connections beyond Senzel returning for his first big-league game in a uniform other than the Reds.

Last Opening Day, Reds first baseman Jeimer Candelario was the Nationals' starting third baseman and Nationals reliever Derek Law pitched 1 2/3 innings in the Reds' Opening Day loss to the Pirates at Great American Ball Park.

Candelario, 30, signed with the Nationals as a free agent before the 2023 season, was traded to the Cubs at the trade deadline and then signed a three-year deal with the Reds last December.

"(The Reds) got a good player," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "He's a switch hitter and he plays third base really well, now our challenge is containing him a little bit and hopefully we do that."

Senzel was drafted by the Reds at No. 2 in the 2016 draft. He made his big-league debut in 2019 and played 377 games for the Reds over five seasons before being non-tendered after last season, eventually signing with the Nationals. Senzel started last season on the injured list, missing Opening Day.

Senzel spent much of his time with the Reds in center field even though he played third base in college because the Reds had Eugenio Suárez at third base for much of Senzel's tenure. In Washington, Martinez said Senzel will be the team's everyday third baseman.

Jesse Winker will be making his fifth Opening Day start at Great American Ball Park, but first here as a visitor. Winker was drafted by the Reds and made the All-Star team for the Reds in 2021 and was traded along with Suárez to Seattle before the 2022 season in a trade that netted the Reds four players, including their starting right fielder Thursday in Jake Fraley.

Relievers Dylan Floro and Tanner Rainey also played for the Reds. Nationals starter Josiah Gray was drafted by the Reds and then part of a seven-player trade with the Dodgers after the 2018 season.

Martinez played for the Reds in 1992 as did his hitting coach, Darnell Coles. Washington bench coach Miguel Cairo and pitching strategist Sean Doolittle also spent time as a Red, as did Paul Lessard, the Nationals' head athletic trainer.

Two years after Gleyber Torres came off the bench on Opening Day, the Yankees' second baseman will lead off today against Astros starter Framber Valdez. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he chose Torres to lead off because, "He can mash."

Boone added that he believes Torres, who will be a free agent this coming offseason, is poised to have "an outstanding year."

The first home run of Opening Day belongs to Mike Trout who just took Corbin Burnes deep with two outs in the top of the first. Feels like a pretty strong "remember me?" moment from the best player of his generation.

Expected wins: 84

Despite an offseason spent slashing payroll by $30 million and losing key veterans Sonny Gray, Jorge Polanco and Kenta Maeda, the Twins are the clear front-runners in the American League Central and well-positioned for their fourth division title in six seasons.

Much of that depends on the trio of Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis staying healthy, but the injury question marks don’t end there. Alex Kirilloff, Chris Paddack and Brock Stewart are also health risks, and the Twins have lost key arms Jhoan Duran, Caleb Thielbar and Anthony DeSclafani to spring training injuries.

This is the most talented team in the division, with the star power and depth to rank among the league’s top five lineups and pitching staffs, but they need Duran to get healthy, Correa/Buxton/Lewis to stay healthy and someone to replace Gray atop the rotation alongside ace Pablo López. — Aaron Gleeman

Austin Mock's odds

Make postseason: 60.2%

Win division: 53.3%

Win pennant: 9.3%

Win World Series: 3.8%

Jim Bowden's report card

Lineup: B

Rotation: B

Bullpen: A-

Defense: B+

Depth: B

Overall: B

Carlos Correa performed a rare task on Thursday, participating in on-field batting practice. The Minnesota Twins shortstop rarely steps on the field to hit before a game, with several coaches believing Correa only did one session of on-the-field BP in all of 2023.

Correa typically hits indoors because it’s easier to work and it’s part of his routine. There’s also a boatload of technology at his fingertips in the indoor cages. But with 15 mile-per-hour winds forecast at Kauffman Stadium for the season opener against the Kansas City Royals, Correa batted in a group with Carlos Santana, Kyle Farmer and Christian Vázquez.

“Just to see how the ball is traveling,” Correa said. “I don't want to hit anything in the air because the ball isn't traveling too much.”

The scene in Oakland tonight, when the A’s host what figures to be their last home opener at the Coliseum, should be a sight to behold, and the Guardians are bringing a couple of familiar faces. Stephen Vogt’s first game as a manager, fittingly, will take place in the building in which he blossomed into an All-Star and a local folk hero.

“It’s always fun to come back here, but this feels a little different this year,” he said. “To be starting off here, we’ve known it’s coming and I’ve talked about how cool it’s going to be, but it’s really special.”

The A’s severed ties with outfielder Ramón Laureano last summer and he wound up in Cleveland. Before batting practice on Wednesday, he reminisced about the 2019 wild-card game in Oakland, the site’s last playoff game with fans in the stands (since the pandemic prevented fans from attending games in 2020). Laureano said that game was “the loudest thing that I ever experienced in my life.”

“It was like an earthquake the whole game until the last out,” he said. “We couldn’t speak to each other because it was so loud. I remember (thinking), ‘Wow, if they can sign some people and have a normal franchise here, it will be pretty crazy here every day.’ But, unfortunately, that’s not the way it is.”

For more on Vogt’s journey to becoming a manager and his return to Oakland:

Expected wins: 64

The White Sox bottomed out last summer with a firesale, a few front-office firings and 101 losses — their most since 1970. GM Chris Getz is now tasked with leading a rebuild that began at last year’s trade deadline, a month before he was hired.

He traded ace Dylan Cease to San Diego this month for three prospects and reliever Steven Wilson. Chicago's cupboard of prospects has been replenished, but few coveted players remain at the major league level. Getz has so far held on to Luis Robert Jr., who is under club control through 2027.

The White Sox are not playing for 2024 but will, in fact, be asked to play in 2024. The Central is forever winnable, but with the Twins on top, the Guardians standing pat and the Tigers and Royals adding aggressively this offseason, Chicago is only falling farther behind.— Stephen J. Nesbitt

Austin Mock's odds

Make postseason: 0.3%

Win division: 0.2%

Win pennant: 0.0%

Win World Series: 0.0%

Jim Bowden's report card

Lineup: C

Rotation: D

Bullpen: D+

Defense: C-

Depth: D

Overall: D+

Expected wins: 78

The division is up for grabs, and the Tigers are pushing their chips into the middle in hopes a group of talented young hitters can defy odds and projections and end a decade-long playoff drought.

Spencer Torkelson (31 homers last season), Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith could form the core of this lineup, with veteran addition Mark Canha adding some stability. All the young hitters are talented, but achieving consistent success in the major leagues is a taller task.

The Tigers lost Eduardo Rodriguez to free agency but still feel optimistic about their pitching. They added Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty this winter and are counting on Tarik Skubal to emerge as a Cy Young contender. Casey Mize, Matt Manning and Reese Olson provide more young talent in the rotation, while additions of Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller should strengthen a bullpen that performed well at the end of games last season. — Cody Stavenhagen

Austin Mock's odds

Make postseason: 19.7%

Win division: 14.5%

Win pennant: 2.2%

Win World Series: 0.7%

Jim Bowden's report card

Lineup: C+

Rotation: C+

Bullpen: C+

Defense: B

Depth: C+

Overall: C+

TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees star Aaron Judge stood near his locker in the back corner of the clubhouse at spring training, the sweat from the morning’s workout darkening his gray T-shirt and beading above his eyebrows. Opening Day was a week away. There was still time to reflect. He started to speak and then stopped himself. He wanted to tell two stories.

Judge remembered a time in January. Camp wouldn’t open for another month, yet he was flanked by teammates behind a batting cage at the club’s player development complex. DJ LeMahieu was there. So were Anthony Volpe and Gleyber Torres. They were hitting, but they were also dissecting each other’s approaches — what makes them work, and what’s typically happening when they look lost at the plate. The discussion, Judge said, was aimed at having a greater focus during each other’s at-bats and being able to diagnose issues from their perches in the dugout. They were going to be each other’s swing doctors.

“We’ve been working together since Jan. 2,” he said. “We’ve got a feel of what we’re trying to accomplish. You’ve got a group of guys who are year-round all together, and that just translates to an overall better season. We’re in the foxhole together. We’ve got each other’s backs.”

Still, Judge knew there was a caveat.

He said he could offer platitudes about “turning the page” and how players had put behind them a terrible 2023 in which they started with World Series hopes and cratered to a fourth-place finish in the American League East. It was only August when general manager Brian Cashman called the season “a disaster.”

Judge said he could also note how excited he was to have James Rowson and Pat Roessler on board, new hitting coaches who “have been around the game for a while” and bring “a different type of energy, a different perspective.”

Then he could say how it’s a “different group,” especially considering the additions of Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham.

But Judge understood that since he made his debut in the Bronx eight years ago, it’s not the words that have mattered.

“We’ve got to go out there and prove it,” he said.

Continue reading.

Colt Keith woke up early Thursday morning ahead of his major-league debut. The Tigers’ rookie second baseman was the only player on the early bus to Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field

“I slept all right,” Keith said. “Then I just woke up and I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going back to sleep.’”

Just one day earlier, Keith took a moment to gaze around the stadium before the team’s Wednesday workout. Now Keith will play second base and hit sixth in what could be the first of many Opening Days to come.

“Hopefully after I throw and hit BP and stuff I’ll be fine,” he said.

Expected wins: 89

Who knows with the Yankees. The Athletic's projection model likes their chances to rebound from last year's disastrous fourth-place finish in the American League East, but there are also many, many ways things could go wrong for them. Here's what we do know for certain: They won't have ace Gerrit Cole — the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner — for perhaps two months as he rebounds from an elbow injury. They also won't have their starting third baseman (DJ LeMahieu) and several key relievers (Tommy Kahnle, Scott Effross). Could the addition of Juan Soto change the Yankees' fortunes? He's one of the best young lefty hitters ever, and he could help form a best-in-the-game duo by hitting in front of Aaron Judge. Still, the Yankees need several key veterans to prove that their terrible 2023 seasons were flukes and not who they really are. We're looking at you, Carlos Rodón, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo. — Brendan Kuty

Austin Mock's odds

Make postseason: 74.3%

Win division: 38.4%

Win pennant: 15.6%

Win World Series: 7.6%

Jim Bowden's report card

Lineup: A-

Rotation: B

Bullpen: B

Defense: B

Depth: B

Overall: B

Look, I would have preferred a 1 o'clock game on Opening Day, but Baltimore really does seem like a fitting place to begin this season considering it's a time of such hope and transformation for the Orioles. New ownership just took over, and apparently the group has already bought a round of beers at Pickles Pub across the street from the ballpark.

In other Orioles beer news, I also just read online that iconic Baltimore-brewed National Bohemian Beer — Natty Boh, if you’re cool — is returning to Camden Yards for the first time in a decade.

I don't know, man. The Orioles really seem to be cornering the market on young position players, rental aces, and general vibes. That first "OH!" during the National Anthem* this afternoon is going to be epic.

*For the uninitiated, the Baltimore crowds yells "Oh!" whenever the anthem singer gets to the "Oh say does that star spangled..." line in the song. When the place is packed, it's legitimately cool.