It would be the opening scene of the 2020 MLB season to see Max Scherzer to serve up a 459 ft home run to Giancarlo Stanton, with Aaron Judge on second base.
The World Series Champions, who no one expected to be in the playoffs, with one of the top 3 most dominant pitchers in the last decade of baseball, play the team everyone believes will be the World Series champion this year, and their bulky, muscled heart of the lineup dropping bombs in front of a ballpark filled with no one.
You can’t make this stuff up. It feels like the most baseball-esque start to baseball in baseball history.
The only way this one ends in a more 2020 way, is if the Soto-lacking Nationals somehow manage to beat the most dominating pitcher in baseball. What precedent does it set if the Washington Nationals open the 2020 season beating the Yankees and Gerritt Cole with their bullet riddled lineup?
I thought the year of the long ball was 2019? This though, as Adam Eaton confidently smashes a 98 mph fastball from the most polished pitcher in baseball. 2-1 Yankees with 12 pitches from Cole in the 1st.
What a way to start this awkward season. This author simply can’t wait for the rest of it.
Through one inning, it’s looking like baseball couldn’t have showcased a better matchup for opening day #1.
Four straight strikeouts for Scherzer as he settles in. This is going to be good.
Did an Astronaut on the International space station just welcome me back to baseball? Thanks Chris Cassidy. That was truly out of this world.
Garret Cole grabs a pair of K’s as he settles in as well. Through two innings, this is still worth the money. Baseball is back!
Aaron Judge has Scherzer’s number today with those left side knocks. This one landed him on second base and scored another run for the Yankees as Wade speeds home.
Max Scherzer is pitching better than the Yankee strongmen have let him appear to be. This Yankee team came to play ball. Even Phil Nevin looks edgy and ready.
Cole is in the groove now, but Eaton did force Judge back to the warning track with his sophomore effort against the Yankee pitcher. A few more feet and this is a 3-2 game.
Through 4 innings pitched, Scherzer has 7 K’s and given that stat, you really don’t expect the National’s to be down 3-1.
How high a pitch count will they let Cole run to? Through the end of the 4th he is at 56 pitches, and this number could have easily been to 70, had he not had such a short inning in the bottom of the 4th. If he keeps steamrolling over the Nationals, as a fan I’d love to see him go the distance. The complete game is something I miss since at least the days of Curt Schilling. With a guy like Cole though, I doubt they will let him go too far too many times. It’d be good for baseball to see the most highly touted player this year really showoff what he’s capable of, should he stay on a heater. Who thinks they will let him go past 80 pitches, though?
The Yankees opt for small ball in the 5th. It’s a fun thing to see from an old-school fan’s perspective, but I have a feeling this isn’t all we will see of it this year. All bets are off in 2020. Sure, it’s a sort of unwritten rule in a lot of scenarios, but I think this will be the year that the bunt comes back hot. It will be very interesting since the news broke today that the 16 team post season in in effect for the year.
Hate to mention it again, but the stormy, thunderous, rainy environment showing up in the first game of the season in THIS season just seems ominous from an overall perspective. It’s so fitting to see something like this. Pair that with the news from this afternoon that Clayton Kershaw, one of the top 5 pitchers over the past 7 years *(trending towards the top of that incredible list) has been added to the IL with a strained back; and Juan Soto has tested positive for Coronavirus…Does it get any more ridiculous?
It truly is anyone’s game this year in baseball, even if the Yankees are beating up on one of the best pitchers in the game, while playing the defending world champions, and that seemed the likely outcome thanks to the NYY’s stacked lineup.
On another note, there is no way either pitcher continues after this rain delay. Any manager worth their salt is going to go to the bullpen because these arms will have cooled substantially after the next twenty minutes.
Max Scherzer has also set a major league (modern) baseball record having struck out 10 or more on 3 consecutive opening day starts. The last was in 1893. That’s a nice consolation prize for Max, but I’d be willing to bet he’d rather have the win and the lower ERA that could have been in this game, instead of that very obscure record.
With the massive downpour, is this the final result under the MLB called game rules for 2020?
Maybe this is to be continued?