Rookie power on Opening Day
MLB Opening Day delivered rookie fireworks — Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter homered twice in his big-league debut, and four rookies combined for five home runs and eight RBIs across the slate (sportingnews.com). The day also saw Paul Skenes suffer his worst career start, exiting after just two innings, while packed ballparks and big streaming audiences capped a rowdy season launch (mlb.com).
Chase DeLauter’s first big-league hit came in his very first regular-season plate appearance against Logan Gilbert, and his ninth-inning drive — off Cooper Criswell — produced the go-ahead run as he finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored at age 24 (mlb.com ). DeLauter became the first player in franchise history to record multiple home runs in a regular-season debut, and the Elias Sports Bureau lists him as just the seventh player in MLB history to hit two homers in his first big-league game. (mlb.com ). Carson Benge, JJ Wetherholt and Munetaka Murakami each delivered their first MLB home runs on Opening Day — Benge entered as the Mets’ No. 2 prospect and No. 16 overall and had 22 family members in the crowd for his debut. (mlb.com ). Wetherholt’s long first homer traveled a Statcast-projected 425 feet with a 101.7 mph exit velocity in St. Louis, while Murakami — who hit 246 homers over eight seasons in Japan and signed a two‑year, $34 million deal with the White Sox — closed his debut with a 384‑foot shot. (mlb.com ) (espn.com ). According to ESPN Insights as cited by SI, this Opening Day marked the first time in MLB history that three players homered in their first career games on the same Opening Day, a sign of a particularly loaded rookie class to start the season. (si.com ). Paul Skenes lasted just two outs on Opening Day, throwing 37 pitches while allowing five runs (four hits, two walks and a hit batter) before being removed; his outing was compounded by two defensive misplays by Oneil Cruz that turned singles into extra-inning damage, per game reports. (espn.com ) (mlb.com ). The day’s crowds underlined the rowdy launch: Citi Field recorded a sellout crowd of 41,449 for the Mets‑Pirates game, and T‑Mobile Park listed attendance at 44,938 for Cleveland’s opener in Seattle, while MLB noted that 20 players from Pipeline’s Top 100 began the year on Opening Day rosters — the most since the Top 100 list began in 2012. (nbcsports.com ) (espn.com ) (mlb.com ).
