Opening Day: rookies explode
MLB Opening Day produced a rookie power show — Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter launched two homers and several top prospects combined for five rookie homers, eight RBIs and four walks across the slate. The Yankees opened with a 7–0 win in San Francisco, and the Rays' game featured a rare inning where both teams scored 6+ runs — only the second time that’s happened on Opening Day (sportingnews.com) (x.com) (cbssports.com).
DeLauter opened his regular-season account with a home run in his first MLB plate appearance, making him the fifth player in Cleveland franchise history to homer in his first regular-season at-bat. (espn.com (espn.com)) The Guardians’ rookie entered the season as Cleveland’s 16th overall pick in the 2022 draft and is listed at 24 years old on his official MLB bio. (mlb.com (mlb.com)) Six debuting players — Kevin McGonigle, JJ Wetherholt, Carson Benge, Chase DeLauter, Justin Crawford and Munetaka Murakami — combined to go 12-for-23 with five home runs, eight RBIs and four walks on Opening Day. (sportingnews.com (sportingnews.com)) Kevin McGonigle produced a four-hit debut (4-for-5) that included two doubles and two RBIs, making him one of the few Tigers with four hits in an MLB debut. (mlb.com (mlb.com)) Carson Benge’s first major-league hit was a 428-foot solo home run off Justin Lawrence in the sixth inning of the Mets’ opener. (apnews.com (apnews.com)) JJ Wetherholt hit a 425-foot solo homer in his second plate appearance to give the Cardinals a highlight in his debut, while Munetaka Murakami capped his MLB debut with a 384-foot homer after arriving from Japan with 246 NPB career home runs. (mlb.com (mlb.com)) (espn.com (espn.com)) The Rays–Cardinals game produced a historic sixth inning — Tampa Bay scored six in the top of the sixth and St. Louis answered with eight in the bottom, marking only the second Opening Day in MLB history in which both teams scored six-or-more runs in the same inning (the other occurred on April 19, 1890). (mlb.com (mlb.com)) Yankees starter Max Fried delivered 6 1/3 shutout innings in New York’s season-opening road shutout at Oracle Park, joining four other Yankees since 1969 with at least 6 1/3 scoreless Opening Day innings. (espn.com (espn.com))
