Three takeaways from the beautiful thing that is Opening Day:
Clayton Kershaw just openly taunting the Padres by showing them the one thing they couldn't hit today. pic.twitter.com/A9xbBVjC5o
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) April 5, 2016
Clayton Kershaw in his last 146 regular season starts (1,043â…“ IP) has a 1.98 ERA. That dates back to June 14, 2011
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 5, 2016
Here's an impressive Kershaw statistic from his dominating Opening Day performance: He threw 57 fastballs, and only four of them were both in the strike zone and put into play. Just think about that. It explains why Kershaw gave up one hit in seven innings against the Padres while striking out nine. Here's the breakdown of those fastballs:
57 pitches
33 strikes
15 balls
9 in play
Of the nine that were put into play, five were outside the zone. When the Padres did swing, they swung and missed 35 percent of the time (Kershaw's swing-and-miss rate on his fastball in 2015 was 22.6 percent, which was up from 14.2 percent in 2014). OK, the Padres likely aren't the best offensive team in the National League, but you're not going to beat Kershaw by hitting his curveball or slider.
Anyway, you might remember that Kershaw had a 4.32 ERA and just two wins through his first nine starts last season. I don't think you're going to see a similar slow start in 2016. In fact, is it too late to change my MVP prediction?
It was almost secondary that the Los Angeles Dodgers scored 15 runs, although six of those came off Rule 5 pick Luis Perdomo, who pitched in Class A a year ago. Considering how banged up the Dodgers are, these first two weeks are important, as they have seven of their first 13 games against the Giants and three against the Diamondbacks. Seeing Yasiel Puig go 2-for-3 with a walk and a triple and Joc Pederson hit two bullets for doubles is a good sign that the lineup will survive the DL stints of Howie Kendrick and Yasmani Grandal (plus the longer one of Andre Ethier).
2. Trevor Story's smile
If I remember anything from Opening Day, however, it will be the smile on Story's face as his Colorado Rockies teammates greeted him in the duguout after his second home run off Zack Greinke. What a debut.
The Diamondbacks, still reeling from the injury to All-Star center fielder A.J. Pollock, have had a rough few days. Greinke hadn't allowed seven runs in a game since 2012 and allowed more than three runs just twice in 31 starts in 2015, so this was a result was a bit of a punch to the gut. It is it too early to remind everyone that it's just one game?
3. Jake Arrieta blisters the Angels
#Cubs Jake Arrieta has 17 straight starts without allowing more hits than innings pitched. Allowing 59 hits in 123â…“ innings (4.31 H/9).
— Ace of MLB Stats (@theaceofspaeder) April 5, 2016
For now, the blister issues that plagued him in spring training appear to be a non-factor as he looked like the Cy Young winner of 2015 with seven scoreless innings in a 9-0 thumping of the Angels. He allowed just two hits, one walk and twice fanned Mike Trout swinging, once on a 2-2 changeup and then on a 1-2 curveball. Arrietathrew 89 pitches, 64 for strikes, and what are you supposed to do when he can throw any of four plus pitches at any time in the count?
He had 12 starts last season where he allowed zero earned runs, including nine of his final 12 regular-season starts. One of the interesting subplots of the Chicago Cubs' season will be Arrieta's workload. By the time he faced the Mets in the NLCS he was clearly gassed, with his fastball velocity down significantly. After pitching 248 innings between the regular season and playoffs -- way above his previous career high -- will Joe Maddon attempt to rein Arrieta in just a bit? Keep an eye on that as we get deeper into the season. Of course, the standings and the state of the Cubs' bullpen will have an influence there.
