MLB Opening Day 2022 got off to quite the raucous start this year, didn’t it? Fantasy baseball owners saw some strong pitching efforts, game-winning hits by high-end MLB rookies and, of course, we saw closers and bullpens get shuffled around on just the first day. Welcome to April baseball for the 2022 MLB season. With an abbreviated spring training, we’re going to see a lot of ups and downs here in the month of April. Don’t get too down on players if they are underperforming and don’t go too crazy over any hot starts. Water finds its own level and baseball works the same way. Let’s take a look at some of the more notable fantasy baseball highlights from Day One.

 

 

2022 MLB Opening Day Fantasy Baseball Highlights

 

MLB Rookie of the Year Candidate Bobby Witt Jr. Delivers Game-Winning Hit for Kansas City Royals

 

 

There’s really nothing better than investing in a rookie and watching him deliver immediate results. The preseason hype on Witt Jr. was enormous and in late drafts, he was being taken in the fourth and fifth rounds, regardless of league size or scoring format. When you’re dealing with a fantasy hype train moving that quickly, you either have to jump on and commit or let it pass you by. If you hopped on like me, what a great day! After going 0-for-3, Witt Jr. stepped to the plate in the eighth inning and delivered an RBI-double to left field that scored Michael A. Taylor and gave the Royals a 2-1 lead. Then we saw some heads-up base-running as he took off for third on a passed ball which allowed him to score the insurance run on a single by Andrew Benintendi. The energy in Kansas City was amazing when that happened and this is going to be one heck of a ride. If you’re on that train…enjoy.

Shane Bieber Looks Strong on the Mound for the Cleveland Guardians  

 

 

First and foremost, you can expect major league managers to hold back their guys a little bit here in the early part of the regular season. We’re getting a full 162 games and with the short spring, they’re not going to want to push their guys too hard too soon. Bieber threw just 72 pitches (48 strikes) and went just 4.2 innings against the Royals, but the takeaway here is that he looks healthy. There were some concerns over his shoulder last year and there were questions about potential command and control issues coming into the season, but, despite the shot outing, Bieber looked strong, allowing just three hits and striking out four. But the zero walks should be the focus here as his command was on-point. Yes, it was just the Royals, but every great journey starts with one step.

Shohei Ohtani Still Looks Like an MVP for Los Angeles Angels

 

 

Say what you want about the raw results, Ohtani looked fantastic last night. Hitless? So what? The value of a two-way player like this is enormous, regardless of the format or your league rules. The big decision for most fantasy owners yesterday was whether to use Ohtani as a hitter or a pitcher this week. For some, it’s a short week and in other fantasy baseball leagues, they tack these first few days onto next week so the scoring period has more games to it. Just a glance at last night’s box score might indicate using him as a starting pitcher was more valuable as he struck out nine and allowed just one run over 4.2 innings, but you’re just going to have to see what he looks like at the plate for the next few games. No one like a 0-for-4 start, but you also didn’t get a win from him and what will these 4.2 innings going to look like in the grand scheme of things. Truth is, he’s probably going to be of more value as a hitter unless you get a two-start week from him and those, with the Angels’ six-man rotation, are going to be few and far between. When you get one, take advantage of it, but also be sure the match-ups align properly for you and your team.

Houston Astros Starter Framber Valdez Dominates the Angels

 

 

When he is on, Valdez is a ground ball machine and yesterday was no different. On his way to his first win of the 2022 MLB season, Valdez induced nine ground ball outs while limiting the Angels to just two hits. He walked one batter and struck out six while throwing just 84 pitches (54 strikes) over 6.2 innings. I’m sure we’ll see some bumps in the road as the season progresses, but if you grabbed Valdez to fill out the middle of your fantasy rotation, we hope you enjoy the ride.

Opening Day Bullpens and Fantasy Baseball Closers

 

You should definitely check out Joe Gallina’s fully-updated write up of all the closer situations as we head into Day 2 of 2022 MLB Opening Day and make sure you bookmark the Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid for future use, but I just wanted to throw a couple of notes your way after what we watched yesterday.

  • Houston Astros – Ryan Pressley grabs his first save and will be an elite all year.
  • Chicago Cubs – David Robertson gets the first save of the season and could be your waiver wire add this week, but see how the rest of the weekend plays out. I’m not ruling out Rowan Wick just yet.
  • Kansas City Royals – If yesterday’s two-inning win for Scott Barlow doesn’t tell you that he’s the trusted reliever for Mike Matheny, then you’re not paying attention. He did throw 29 pitches so don’t be surprised if he is rested Saturday still.
  • Cincinnati Reds – Tony Santillan grabbed the save but he was used to bail out Dauri Moreta who was turning a 6-1 lead into a close game. We still think Art Warren will be the guy in closer, more high-leverage situations.
  • San Diego Padres – They mixed and matched at the end of the game with Robert Suarez struggling mightily and earning the loss. The blown save went to Craig Stammen. Expect newly-acquired Taylor Rogers to slot into the closer’s role once he acclimates. 
 

 

Yu Darvish Spins a Gem Against Arizona Diamondbacks

 

 

Figured I would rip off the band-aid with the closers and the blown save first before talking about how great Darvish looked on the mound. The Diamondbacks may not be the toughest of adversaries, but Darvish looked fantastic throwing six no-hit innings with three strikeouts. He did walk four batters, but had absolutely no problem pitching his way out of trouble. We had him tabbed as a comeback candidate and watching him pitch yesterday only enhanced that level of confidence. Don’t lament too much over the bullpen blowing the save and costing Darvish the win. They will have that sorted out in no time.

Seth Beer Hits Game-Winning Homer on National Beer Day

 

 

You just can’t make this stuff up, can you? Yes, yesterday was National Beer Day and the Diamondbacks new DH clubbed his first home run of the season on the second pitch he saw from Padres reliever Craig Stammen and gave the Diamondbacks their first win of the season. Beer is going to hit for a lot of power, but don’t expect anything wild in the batting average department as we expect a fairly high strikeout rate. But as these National League teams get used to having a designated hitter, Beer will likely be a consistent threat in their lineup. If he shows he can hit for a half-decent average and posts decent on-base totals, maybe he gets moved up in the order a little bit. Batting seventh isn’t the worst in the world, but we’d love to see this kid get some extra at-bats.

 

 

MLB Injuries

 

New York Mets 1B Pete Alonso left Thursday’s game in the ninth inning after he was hit by a pitch in the shoulder, only to see it ricochet and hit him in the face. He suffered a cut on his now-swollen lip, but there was no concussion and he appears to be just fine. Phew!

Pittsburgh Pirates 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes, who just signed a new $70M contract extension, left Thursday’s game in the bottom of the first due to a thumb and forearm issue. Hayes told the media that he experienced a cramp that went down his forearm and into his thumb, but the sensation went away quickly. The Pirates will err on the side of caution, but Hayes should be back over the weekend.

Final Thoughts & MLB Betting Info

My apologies if I didn’t highlight one of your favorites as there were a number of fantasy baseball highlights, including a total of 10 home runs hit across the seven games. If you’re watching something you think deserves a specific shout-out or mention, just send me an email at howard@fantasyalarm.com. I love when people point out interesting things about their local teams. Especially when it’s information that can benefit us all. We’re in this together, FANation! Our goal is to win as many fantasy baseball championships as we can and we only do it if we help each other.

Also, one final note – for those of you who tailed my MLB betting picks and MLB prop picks last year, I will be dropping those into the Fantasy Baseball Daily Round Up beginning this Monday. Let’s enjoy the first few games and see if we spot any trends before laying out our hard-earned dollars. Sound good?

Enjoy Opening Day Part 2 and I’ll see you all in the money this year!

 

 

Related Links: