Opening Day 2015. A magical time. With that, here is the first official Daily Trends piece for the 2015 season. If you purchase the Assistant GM package, get set for this piece coming straight to your mailbox each day at about 1 PM EDT. Hey, that's only 10 AM PST and a guy needs his beauty sleep.
LINKS YOU HAVE TO BOOKMARK
DFS PLAYS OF THE DAY
Here are some of the best plays of the day if you're looking to set your lineup Monday, or if you're playing the daily game in particular.
C: Buster Posey lights up Josh Collmenter. In 18 at-bats he's hit .611 with three bombs and eight RBIs.
1B: Miguel Cabrera hammers Phil Hughes back into the stone age. He's swatted five homers with 12 RBIs while batting .516 with a 1.674 OPS (32 plate appearances).
2B: Howie Kendrick has a homer an a 1.440 OPS against James Shields over 27 plate appearances. He's also hit .538 in the matchup.
3B: Evan Longoria has hit .394 over 33 at-bats against Chris Tillman. He's also drive in seven runs, but it's the five homers that really stands out.
SS: Alexei Ramirez faces righty Yordano Ventura Monday. Last season Alexei hit .274 against righties but it's the 10 homers that stand out a bit. Only six other shortstops hit more against righties.
OF: Ryan Braun has hit .474 with two homers an a 1.318 OPS over 19 at-bats against Kyle Kendrick. Braun has a .942 OPS at home in his career.
OF: Dustin Ackley, make sure he's in the lineup though he should be against a righty, has hit .345 with two homers over 29 at-bats against Jered Weaver.
OF: Adam Eaton hit .301 against righties last season. He also hit .284 on the road. He faces Yordano Ventura in Kansas City Monday.
SP: Clayton Kershaw (SD), Felix Hernandez (LAA), Max Scherzer (NYM, David Price (MIN), Johnny Cueto (PIT), Corey Kluber(@HOU), Madison Bumgarner (@HOU)
Cheating today, but how could you not start those guys with complete confidence?
SP: Yovani Gallardo takes on the Athletics in Oakland. It's a solid place for the ground baller to throw against a club that is without Josh Reddick and Coco Crisp. Not to mention the fact that the Athletics lost guys like Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson this offseason.
SP: Henderson Alvarez pitches at home against the Braves. Always, and I mean always, start Alvarez at home. Last season he made 14 starts at home with a 1.60 ERA and 1.01 WHIP with a 7-2 record.
BATTING ORDER MOVES
With the season just starting it's appropriate to share the batting order choices by many of the teams. There are quite a few players who are either in advantageous or poor situations on the first day of the season.
Mookie Betts is indeed hitting out of the leadoff spot for the Red Sox.
Charlie Blackmon is hitting leadoff for the Rockies while Carlos Gonzalez bats second. Corey Dickerson bats sixth.
Rajai Davis is batting leadoff for the Tigers. That's a surprise. Why? Righty Phil Hughes is on the hill for the Twins. He's right handed. When a righty was on the hill the Tigers said all preseason that Anthony Gose would bat leadoff. A ceremonial nod to Davis on Opening Day or a change in plans? Keep an eye on this one.
Odubel Herrera is indeed batting second for the Phillies behind Ben Revere and ahead of Chase Utley.
John Jaso is batting leadoff for the Rays as expected. Rookie Steven Souza is slotted into the second spot.
Russell Martin had a .402 OBP last year. Don't expect a repeat, not even close (the mark was under .330 the previous three seasons). The Blue Jays seem to be buying some of the success though as he's hitting second behind Jose Reyes and ahead of Jose Bautista. If he stick there expect him to have a very productive season. The bottom third of the Jays order: Dalton Pompey, Kevin Pillar and Devon Travis.
Dan Uggla is batting 7th and starting at second base for the Nationals. Who knew?
Luis Valbuena is starting at third base for the Astros. We knew that. However, it's pretty dang surprising to see him hitting out of the third spot for the club. Is that stranger than George Springer batting second?
BRAVES/PADRES 9th INNING
The Braves pulled of a deal with the Padres who seem hell bent on challenging the best of the best in 2015. Here's the deal:
Braves receive: Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin, Matt Wisler, Jordan Paroubeck & the 41st selection in the 2015 Entry Draft.
Padres receive: Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton
Maybin, a former 80 run, 40 steal guy should get a lot of run in the outfield for the Braves who have none of the three men who were in the outfield two years ago (Justin Upton, Melvin Upton and Jason Heyward). It's not like Maybin doesn't have a better game than Eric Young Jr. Maybin should pick up more at-bats than Young, potentially significantly more. He has to stay healthy of course for any of it to matter.
The Braves bullpen looks like this now. Jason Grilli is in the lead though Jim Johnson could also be in the mix. Juan Jamie could close later in the year as well if either of the veterans can't get 'er done. Grilli had 33 saves in 2013 and from 2011 through 2014 he averaged 11.89 strikeouts per nine. That number did dip to 9.50 last season for the 38 year old and that's an issue. Still, he has to be the favorite right now, 24 hours after being left on the waiver-wire in every mixed league out there.
As for the Padres, massive pen changes abound. Kimbrel takes over after posting 186 saves the past five seasons with an ERA under 2.00 the last three. Brandon Maurer was sent to Triple-A. Kevin Quakenbush was sent to Triple-A. Joaquin Benoit will lose all of his value moving into a setup role while Shawn Kelly also moves down a notch in the pecking order - though at least he still has his spot in the big leagues. "Joaquin did well in Spring Training, but we saw an opportunity to acquire someone who is arguably the best at what he does in the game," Padres GM A.J. Preller said. "The impact Kimbrel has had on the game, it wasn't as if we needed a closer, but it's a unique opportunity to get an A-type performer."