Opening Day is 8 days away on April 1st! Time to be getting excited for sure. There are so many dynamic young players, 95+ pitchers, and quality managers. There were great off-season moves to excite fan bases in cities like San Diego, Chicago, and Toronto. This could be an amazing season! We need to follow closely the news and notes now that we are coming to the end of games that don’t count in the records books.
Unfortunately, there are injuries we have to deal with. I have compiled a list of them where some are impactful and others not so much. I have left off players that should not impact teams much at all.
There are still position battles left. We need to consider the position, the team, and the situation too. For example, DET has Boyd, Teheran, Skubal as for sure starting pitchers that have made the rotation. They also have Turnbull who will be on IL so they really only have a rotation spot left. Again, the Tigers will use lots of pitchers so is there much meaning to the opening day roster? The answer is not really.
The ATL Braves are trying to figure their #5 starter. It will be easy to align the staff when Soroka comes back, but they need to pick one from Wilson, Ynoa, or Toussaint. The NYM, PHI, and WSN will also have to fill out their rotations. Keep an eye on things that will delay starts like with DET Spencer Turnbull having Covid. It is not only his missed time but his build back up we need to see be right.
We need to look at situations that become created for someone else. An example of this is OF Harrison Bader. He will miss 6 weeks so Justin Williams and Lane Thomas could get some playing time early in the season. OF George Springer may not be ready for opening day. He is an impact on the offense and on the team series with NYY.
I will go look to update this again in a couple days.