Opening Weekend in the MLB has come and gone, and the MLB season has officially begun. We have bench-clearing brawls, rainouts, extra innings, and sweeps all in one week. Opening Day into Opening Weekend has so much excitement that it gives the fans a great product.

Winners

New York Yankees: The Yankees won the weekend by completing the 4-game sweep of the Houston Astros. Without Gerrit Cole, the Yankees’ rotation was the weak spot of this team. With that, the Yankees’ starters gave up 8 runs in 20.2 innings, but the bullpen did not give up a single run in those four games. Also, the acquisition of Juan Soto in the offseason is proving to be a difference maker with Soto having an OPS of 1.365. Youngster Oswaldo Cabrera is not far behind Soto with an OPS of 1.346 with two HRs. The Yankees have high expectations this season, and sweeping the other favorite to win the American League is certainly a great Opening Weekend.

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates won the weekend by starting 4-0 in the MLB after Opening Weekend. Even though they played the Miami Marlins, not many saw the Pirates sweeping the Marlins in four games. The Pirates won on Opening Day on a 12th inning single by Jared Triolo to secure the win. The bullpen was stellar giving up only two runs in four games, and the offense scoring 31 runs also. Ke’bryan Hayes is off to a hot start with a .444 AVG. The Pirates open the week with the 1-2 Washington Nationals, so there is a reasonable chance they start 6-1.

Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers won the weekend by sweeping the New York Mets 3-0. Milwaukee went into the season with an unknown with the rotation and the lineup, but after that series, it seems they might be just fine. Christian Yelich had a vintage weekend hitting .455 with an HR and two stolen bases. Freddy Peralta was given the game ball on Opening Day and went off with 8 K’s and only 1 hit. The Brewers’ youngster Jackson Chourio is batting .417 and has been a force in the outfield. This is the start the Brewers were looking for.

Losers

New York Mets: The Mets were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Opening Weekend to start the MLB season. The Mets had only one hit on Opening Day, which was a HR by Starling Marte. The team batting average is .202 with 23 strikeouts over three games. They really lost the weekend because of the Hoskins situation. Sure, the slide was late and it could have been bad for McNeil, but throwing at the guy in his third AB AFTER hitting an HR is a bad look.

Chicago White Sox: The White Sox lost the weekend by being swept at home by the Detroit Tigers. This White Sox team was never supposed to be very good, but the offense does not look good. They open the week with the Atlanta Braves which will not help them whatsoever.

Colorado Rockies: The Rockies are not supposed to win the 2024 MLB World Series. But giving up 14 runs in one inning is bad. Remarkably, they have a run differential under 20, but this is definitely not the start they wanted.

Biggest Story

The big story of the weekend happened in the Brewers and Mets series. It started in the first game when Rhys Hoskins tried to break up a double play with a late slide. Jeff McNeil was trying to turn the double play, and when he dropped the ball Hoskins slid into his leg that was on second base. McNeil was offended at the slide and was screaming at Hoskins. This altercation caused the benches to clear and also it gave us a great meme when Hoskins went “waa waa” to McNeil after it all.

In the next game, it was assumed that the Mets would throw at Hoskins for the late slide into McNeil. But after the first at-bat, Hoskins hit a two-run single to left. In his next at-bat, the fans were booing him and still, they did not throw at Hoksins. In the same at-bat, Hoskins hit a two-run HR to left in the 3rd inning. Finally, in Hoskins’ 3rd at bat, the Mets threw a ball over his upper back that went all the way to the backstop. It caused the Mets’ pitcher, Yohan Ramirez, to get thrown out of the game and then suspended. It was a wild Opening Weekend in the MLB.

Next Week’s Preview

There are a ton of big series coming up this week. The first one is the Giants at the Dodgers. This NL West rivalry is coming with some juice this year. The Los Angeles Dodgers spent big money this offseason, like signing Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The San Francisco Giants were looking to sign both of those players but ended up signing Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman, and reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell. This will be a must-watch series starting on April 1st.

The other must-watch series is a rematch of the ALCS from last year. The Texas Rangers welcome the Houston Astros on April 5th. The Astros are coming off of a sweep by the Yankees and look to get back on track. On the other hand, the Rangers look to stay atop the AL West after a series win over the Chicago Cubs. There is definitely some bad blood between the AL West rivals.

Lastly, there are some great pitching matchups this week. We have Corbin Burnes vs Cole Ragans in the Orioles vs Royals. Another great matchup is Carlos Rodon vs Merrill Kelly in the Yankees @ Diamondbacks series. A lot of good games and a lot of teams looking to stay hot or get hot.

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