The first weekend of the 2025 MLB season is in the books -- and what a wild few days of action it was across the majors.
We saw the Los Angeles Angels establish a new low when they used a position player to pitch on Opening Day. Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales broke his ankle while hitting a home run. Nestor Cortes gave up three home runs on his first three pitches of the season. The San Francisco Giants tied a record by starting their 19th consecutive different left fielder on Opening Day in Heliot Ramos. Rafael Devers became the first player to strike out 10 times in the first three games of a season.
Whew. OK, there was plenty of good stuff as well: Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, MacKenzie Gore, Tyler O'Neill homering on Opening Day for the sixth year in a row, Griffin Conine's catch, Brenton Doyle playing center field.
What did we learn? Here are 12 initial takeaways from opening weekend.
1. New bats and a Yankees offense off to a blazing start
We have our first big story of the season: the new "torpedo"-shaped bats that multiple New York Yankees players are using, which have more wood in the contact area of the bat and are slightly thinner at the top. The concept is to shift the center of mass to create a larger sweet spot and, in theory, produce more bat speed. And yes -- these new bats are legal under MLB specifications.
Among the Yankees using them: Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells. With the torpedo bats in hand, the Yankees swept three games against the Brewers, mashing a team-record nine home runs Saturday -- one short of the MLB record -- and 15 over the three games. The Yankees' bats were designed by Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT-trained physicist and former Yankees staffer who now works for the Miami Marlins.
Not using the torpedo bat? Judge, who hit three home runs Saturday and another Sunday. His three-game totals: .545/.643/1.818, 4 HRs, 11 RBIs, 8 runs. The Yankees broadcast quipped that Judge is "already halfway to a good month." Indeed, it took him 25 games last year to hit four home runs -- and he still finished with a total of 58. Imagine what Judge might do with a hot April. Whether you want to credit the bats, bad pitching from the Milwaukee Brewers or just plain good hitting, a deeper Yankees lineup with a locked-in Judge might score just as many runs as it did last season, even without Juan Soto.
As for the bats, the Yankees aren't the only ones using them. Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins used one Sunday. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora said some of his team's players tried them out in spring training. It wouldn't be surprising to see the bats catch on quickly throughout the league. Especially if the Yankees keep hitting home runs.
2. The Dodgers are good -- and Betts is a national treasure
The Los Angeles Dodgers are 5-0, and their hot start has already led to the question of whether this team is so talented, and potentially so dominant, that it can chase the single-season record of 116 wins, set by the famed 1906 Chicago Cubs squad and matched by the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Those Mariners started 20-4 and never stopped pushing, winning at least 18 games every month. The Dodgers, of course, are likely to coast into the playoffs and will be more concerned with keeping their pitching staff healthy than winning 116 games -- but they might give 116 a run regardless.
As for Betts, he sat out the Dodgers' first two wins in Japan when he came down with an illness that left him unable to keep down solid food, which led to him losing almost 20 pounds. Nonetheless, he played in the Dodgers' home opener Thursday and went 1-for-3. Then, on Friday, he hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and a walk-off three-run blast in the 10th -- an absolutely iconic performance given his recent health issue.
It wasn't all good for the Dodgers, though, as rookie Roki Sasaki again struggled with his control, walking four in 1⅔ innings against the Detroit Tigers, giving him nine walks in 4⅔ innings across two starts. It's worth mentioning that the balls they use in Japan are slightly smaller and have a tackier surface than the MLB ball. Yoshinobu Yamamoto got off to a slow start a year ago when making the transition, with a 4.50 ERA through five starts, before pitching to a 2.51 ERA over his final 13 outings. For now, let's call it rookie jitters. Sasaki averaged only two walks per nine innings in Japan, so he just needs to settle in and let his stuff take over.
3. Jacob deGrom might be back
The 36-year-old right-hander didn't pitch a lot in spring training and admittedly wasn't going quite all out, so nobody knew exactly what to expect for his season debut Sunday. He looked pretty good against the Red Sox, throwing five scoreless innings and striking out six -- an outing that looked even better in those classic blue Texas Rangers throwback jerseys. He topped out at 98.1 mph and got 16 swinging strikes out of 73 pitches, a testament to the quality of his stuff. The strikeouts came on four sliders and two changeups as he relied heavily on his slider, throwing it more often than his fastball (29 sliders, 26 fastballs).
All in all, it was a good first weekend for a Texas rotation that delivered three excellent starts in taking three out of four from Boston. Nathan Eovaldi (two runs in six innings) and Jack Leiter (one run in five) also pitched well Thursday and Friday, although Tyler Mahle was wild Saturday and got pulled in the second inning after walking four batters. There are also concerns about the bullpen, and while Luke Jackson lost the season opener when he gave up a three-run homer to Wilyer Abreu in the ninth, he bounced back to record saves Friday and Sunday, with Chris Martin getting the save Saturday. If the Texas bullpen is good -- and while it doesn't impress on paper, manager Bruce Bochy certainly knows a thing or two about running a bullpen -- the Rangers will be tough, which is why they were a popular pick by our experts to win the American League West.
4. Soto holds his own in Mets debut
In his first series with the New York Mets, Soto went 3-for-9 with a home run and four walks against the Houston Astros -- not bad, although Josh Hader got him whiffing on a nasty slider with two runners on to close out a 3-1 win for the Astros on Opening Day. But the rest of the Mets' lineup didn't do anything, as Houston took two of three in a pitching-dominated series, holding the Mets to a .136 average.
5. Potential aces in the making
The main takeaway from that Mets-Astros series was not Soto but second-year Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, who gave up one hit and one run in six innings Saturday. He looked calm and confident, with improved fastball command from his rookie season. He's not overpowering -- averaging 94 mph with his fastball -- but does possess a putaway sweeper and curveball (batters hit .113 against the sweeper and .171 against the curveball last year). He walked two against the Mets, and if he keeps the number of walks down, chances are strong for a breakout season.
Another potential breakout pitcher could be Gore, who was once one of the top pitching prospects in the game. He has gone down a long, winding road to get here, but he had a phenomenal Opening Day outing for the Washington Nationals, fanning 13 Philadelphia Phillies. Yes, the afternoon shadows helped, but he was electric, with a 96 mph fastball and a wipeout slider. It feels as if he has been around forever, but he's still only 26 years old and has 73 major league starts. There's the old saying that left-handers take longer to develop, and who knows whether that's actually true, but Tarik Skubal had his breakout last year at age 27 and Cole Ragans had his at 26. Gore has already performed, but he also has the stuff to make a bigger leap.
Then there's Spencer Schwellenbach, my Cy Young sleeper pick for 2025. He delivered in his first start, giving up one hit in six scoreless innings for the Braves. He's the real deal.
Finally, we have Bryan Woo. He's the forgotten guy in the Mariners' dangerous rotation who quietly posted a 2.89 ERA last year. He needs to stay healthy, but his first start against the Athletics on Sunday was a good one -- he gave up only three hits, including a solo home run, in six innings. He doesn't rack up the swing-and-misses or the strikeouts (he had five), so analysts might always be skeptical about his upside, but batters just don't square up his fastball (which ranked in the 98th percentile in run value in 2024).
6. The Blue Jays need a lot to go right to be successful this season
The first few games of a new season give us a clearer view than spring training does of each team's lineup -- and in the case of the Toronto Blue Jays, it doesn't look good. The first three batters could be really good: That is, if Bo Bichette gets back to his pre-2024 level, if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits like last season, if Anthony Santander mashes 44 home runs as he did for the Baltimore Orioles last season. But their cleanup hitter their first four games was Andres Gimenez, who hit nine home runs and had a .298 OBP with Cleveland last season. His .638 OPS would be lower than what every team except the Angels received from the cleanup spot last season.
Gimenez did homer twice in Toronto's first three games, so maybe he'll surprise the way he did in 2022 when he hit .297/.371/.466, but he certainly doesn't have the profile of a typical cleanup hitter. But when you look at the Toronto lineup, there isn't an obvious cleanup hitter. Alejandro Kirk doesn't have power and hits into too many double plays. George Springer hit .220 with a .303 OBP last season, although he has more power than Gimenez. Maybe somebody such as Will Wagner or Alan Roden eventually steps up, but this is a thin lineup.
Then, Max Scherzer left his start Saturday after three innings, in which he gave up two home runs, because of right lat soreness -- and landed on the injured list because of right thumb inflammation. The thumb plagued him during spring training and Scherzer says it has a ripple effect for everything else, saying the thumb pain was "100%" the reason for the soreness, which is why the issue needs to be resolved before he can pitch again. Like the lineup, the Blue Jays' rotation is thin, with Easton Lucas or Yariel Rodriguez the options to step in for Scherzer. The Jays did split their four-game series with Baltimore, but it feels as if there is no margin for health issues if they are to make a postseason run.
7. The Padres lack depth but might be able to overcome it
The San Diego Padres are trying to compete with the Dodgers in the National League West with a position player group that includes Yuli Gurriel, Jason Heyward, Elias Diaz, Martin Maldonado, Gavin Sheets and a guy named Brandon Lockridge, who last year starred as the young doctor in a small town in a Netflix romance. This group does not inspire confidence.
It's not totally surprising the Padres ended up here, with all the big contracts they've given out that left no money in the budget, plus all the trades that depleted the farm system. General manager A.J. Preller faced a similar situation last year and landed on Jurickson Profar, who had an All-Star season for $1 million, but he's now with Atlanta. Donovan Solano and David Peralta also proved to be useful bench players, but they're also gone. It's hard to see similar results coming from Gurriel, Heyward and our young doctor.
But the Padres might be competitive anyway. They won all four games of their opening series against the Atlanta Braves with the bullpen leading the way, as it picked up three of the wins while giving up only one run in 16 innings. Nick Pivetta picked up the final win Sunday night with a dominant one-hit, seven-inning outing. The top half of San Diego's lineup is loaded with stars, including super sophomore Jackson Merrill. Maybe that will be enough -- we do know the Padres will put the ball in play. They'll need better results than they got from Michael King and Dylan Cease in their first starts -- and they will.
8. Bullpen issues might already be brewing in Atlanta
While the San Diego bullpen dominated, Atlanta's pen lost those first three games. Hector Neris imploded in the season opener to blow a lead, Dylan Lee lost Friday when Jake Cronenworth homered in the eighth, and Aaron Bummer and Daysbel Hernandez combined to give up the losing run Saturday. The Braves had an excellent bullpen in 2024 -- third in the majors in ERA, fourth in win probability added -- but Joe Jimenez could sit out the season after knee surgery, A.J. Minter signed with the Mets and ageless wonder Jesse Chavez signed late and will begin the season in the minors. Neris is the one new guy here, but Lee, Bummer and Hernandez were all effective last season (along with closer Raisel Iglesias). I suspect this group will be fine, but they'll need a right-handed setup guy to emerge to take over Jimenez's role.
9. The Pirates are already a mess
Paul Skenes was fine on Opening Day, although it came against a weak Marlins lineup and he tired in the sixth inning. That was the good news. Here's what else happened to Pittsburgh:
Jared Jones began the season on the IL because of a UCL sprain in his right elbow.
With Gonzales' freak injury, the Pirates will try to win with a double-play combo of Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Adam Frazier.
Oneil Cruz has been a disaster in center field so far, with a couple of big misplays. On Opening Day, he turned a fly ball into a Nick Fortes triple, which led to the winning run. His dropped fly ball Saturday in extra innings led to another Marlins victory. After that miscue, he started Sunday's game on the bench.
Closer David Bednar, who was 3-8 with a 5.77 ERA last season, already has two losses. Setup man Colin Holderman has two blown saves in three appearances.
10. The Marlins had a great weekend and sit atop the NL East
That's right: Not only did Miami win three of four games during opening weekend, but all three were walk-off wins. Most exciting team in baseball? The Marlins are the first team with three walk-off wins in their first four games since the 1998 Mets. Call it a much better start than last season, when they lost their first four games of the season against the Pirates on their way to an 0-9 start. On Sunday, Miami won thanks to Derek Hill hitting an infield single, stealing second and then reaching third on a throwing error before scoring the winning run on a wild pitch by Bednar. The ball never even left the infield. Marlins baseball, everyone.
11. Are the Cardinals good?
The St. Louis Cardinals had an impressive sweep of the Minnesota Twins over the weekend, winning 5-3, 5-1 and 9-2. I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon just yet, but the Cardinals have some good players and an underrated bullpen that will have to carry what projects as a mediocre-or-worse rotation. If the team's young players can hit enough to join the group of Lars Nootbaar, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan, the offense could be decent. And in the NL Central, that might be enough.
Speedy center fielder Victor Scott II, who was overmatched in his major league trial a year ago, got two hits Saturday and homered Sunday. Catcher Ivan Herrera got two hits in both of his starts (and backup Pedro Pages homered Sunday). We'll see how Jordan Walker fares, but he got a hit in each game. The only worrisome player is shortstop Masyn Winn, who struggled big-time in spring training (4-for-50) and is 0-for-9 to start the season. It's too early to panic, but it's something worth watching since they need his glove in the lineup.
12. Pitchers can hit!
In Sunday's matchup between the Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona lost its DH when Ketel Marte had to enter the field. Manager Torey Lovullo had run out of position players to pinch hit late in the game, so pitcher Ryne Nelson had to bat in the eighth inning -- his first professional at-bat -- with the D-backs up a run and two runners on base. Against a drawn-in Cubs infield, he got the bat on the ball and bounced a hit up the middle for an RBI single. He's now hitting 1.000 in the major leagues. And the Diamondbacks -- once down 6-2 -- earned the victory.