Rookies Own Opening Weekend
MLB’s Opening Weekend kicked off with a rookie wave — Chase DeLauter (Guardians) and Sal Stewart (Reds) were named AL and NL Player of the Week respectively as rookies combined to set records for hits and home runs in debuts. The Dodgers' bullpen also started the year hot, throwing a perfect 11⅔ scoreless innings to open 2026, paced by spring breakout Will Klein. (mlb.com)(espn.com)
Elias-tracked rookies produced 15 home runs through every team’s first three games — the most by rookies in any season since 1900 — while combining for a 1.008 OPS, a.622 slugging percentage and a.308 batting average. ((mlb.com)) Chase DeLauter launched four homers in his first three regular-season games and posted a 1.571 OPS, with long balls coming off Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Andrés Muñoz. ((mlb.com)) Sal Stewart went 7-for-10 (.700) in Cincinnati’s opening series with three doubles, a homer, three walks and 10 times on base — the most by a Reds rookie through three games since 1958. ((daytondailynews.com)) Stewart’s three-hit Opening Day made him the first Reds rookie to collect three hits in an opener since rookie stats were counted starting in 1958, a feat highlighted by the team’s video recap. ((mlb.com)) MLB noted this rookie surge is historic beyond box scores: it’s only the second time a pair of rookies have captured the season’s first weekly honors, the last occurrence being Trevor Story and Tyler White in 2016. ((mlb.com)) Los Angeles’ bullpen logged 11 2/3 scoreless innings across the three-game season-opening series against Arizona, a run of zeros the team’s beat writers flagged even as two inherited runners scored on Friday. ((truebluela.com)) Will Klein — the reliever who threw four scoreless innings in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series — has been highlighted in camp coverage as moving up the Dodgers’ late-inning trust tree, and he earned the decision in the March 28 win after a one-inning, one-hit outing. ((mlb.com)) ((espn.com))
