2021 Opening Day has come and gone for the majority of teams in Major League Baseball, and there is plenty to cover based on the action from yesterday’s matchups. One of the countless things that make MLB Opening Day so great is that you get to see each team’s number one guy get the ball and start their club’s season in the right direction. There were many of the game’s best on the hill on Thursday, but it is safe to say there was a mixed bag of results across the league. Elite arms like Luis Castillo, Clayton Kershaw, Jack Flaherty, and Yu Darvish all struggled through the first start of 2021; all of them gave up at least four earned runs and were removed from the game prior to the 6th inning. On the other end of the spectrum, there were several standout pitching performances that should be recognized as such.
Matthew Boyd: Detroit Tigers
If you were to rank every team’s Opening Day starting pitcher 1-30, it is safe to say that Matthew Boyd would be towards the bottom of that list after his disastrous 2020 season. That being said, Boyd is still the leader of a young Detroit staff consisting of rookies Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, with Matt Manning also on the way. Boyd got the Opening Day nod and looked like a completely different pitcher in the 3-2 Tigers win over Cleveland. Boyd didn’t allow a run-through 5.2 innings while only surrendering 3 hits. The key to Boyd’s outing was the soft contact he was producing. The Indians lineup registered just a 27.8% hard-hit rate off Boyd and didn’t barrel up a single baseball in the 18 they put in play against the southpaw. For being a pitcher that doesn’t particularly strike out a ton of batters, soft contact is what a guy like Boyd will rely on in order to have success. Boyd will look to build off his first outing of 2021 and prove he is still a quality starting pitcher.
Tyler Glasnow: Tampa Bay Rays
Tyler Glasnow is one of the more polarizing pitchers when it comes to the baseball community, as some think he is a Cy Young winner waiting to happen, while others think he is massively overrated. If we get the Tyler Glasnow we got on Thursday for the majority of 2021, he will certainly be in the mix. Glasnow was absolutely dominant in a no-decision on Opening Day, throwing six scoreless innings allowing one hit, and walking zero while striking out 6 marlins on a total of 77 pitches. Glasnow’s stuff is electric, and nobody can deny that, it is all about getting the results, and he sure did that yesterday. One of the concerns from Glasnow’s underwhelming postseason in 2020 was that he is easy to figure out due to relying on just 2 pitches. Glasnow debuted his brand new cutter-slider mix he’s been working on this spring, and the new pitch sure looked to payoff. Glasnow had a 41.7% whiff rate on the 26 times he threw the cut-slider. Adding this to his repertoire that already consisted of a 4-seam fastball that averages 98 MPH, and a devastating curveball, can make Glasnow one of the best pitchers in the AL in 2021.
Sandy Alcantara: Miami Marlins
A main reason why Glasnow did not get a win for his performance on Opening Day was because the man he was toeing the rubber against was just as good. Sandy Alcantara continues to show he is the most underrated starter in baseball with an impressive outing against the Rays. Alcantara matched zeroes with Glasnow, also going six scoreless while striking out seven and walking two. All night long, Alcantara was missing bats, surrendering 0 barrels on the 13 batted balls off him. His changeup really gave the lefty batters in Tampa Bay’s lineup fits, as Alcantara got 3 strikeouts and a 54.5% whiff rate off the change. Alcantara is the ace of a young and extremely talented staff in Miami and starts like Thursday prove that he is capable of that responsibility.
Zack Greinke: Houston Astros
The 37-year-old Zack Greinke shutdown the potent Oakland Athletics offense on Opening Night in a battle of two AL West powerhouses. Greinke, the oldest starting pitcher to take the mound on Thursday, was excellent, throwing six shutout innings, striking out four, and walking none on just 82 pitches in the Astros 8-1 victory. This was a vintage Greinke start, in which he doesn’t blow you away with velocity on the fastball but instead just hits his spots and misses barrels. Greinke relied on a relatively balanced four-pitch mix consisting of a 4-seam fastball, changeup, curveball, and slider. He may not have the stuff he once had, but no question that the veteran right-hander knows how to get outs.
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