MLB Opening Weekend: Ji-Man Choi (2RBIs), Masahiro Tanaka(5Ks, 1ER, Win), Hyun-jin Ryu (8Ks, 1ER, Win), Yusei Kikuchi (2.53ERA, 8Ks), and Kolton Wong(2HRs) all excel
Mariners’ Yusei Kikuchi: Staying with team during bereavement
Kikuchi will remain stateside with the Mariners despite the death of his father in Japan on Saturday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. Kikuchi issued a statement through the team Saturday confirming that he’d remain with the Mariners in accordance with his late father’s wishes. The 27-year-old southpaw has been solid through his first two regular-season starts, generating a 2.53 ERA and 0.84 WHIP over 10.2 innings.
Rays’ Ji-Man Choi: Propels Rays to victory
Choi went 1-for-4 with two RBI in Friday’s 4-2 victory over the Astros. Choi came through with a clutch base hit in the third inning, plating a pair of runs on a single to center. After struggling to find playing time at the big-league level in three previous organizations, the 27-year-old is expected to see plenty of opportunities in the designated hitter slot and at first base for Tampa Bay in 2019.
Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka: Notches first win
Tanaka (1-0) picked up the win by allowing one run on six hits and striking out five over 5.2 innings Thursday against Baltimore. Tanaka looked sharp in the season opener, surrendering his lone run in the fourth inning on an RBI single to center. The 30-year-old right-hander is coming off a decent 2018 campaign, posting a 3.75 ERA with a 159:35 K:BB over 156 frames. He’ll aim to continue his early success in his second start of the year Wednesday against Detroit.
Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu: Sharp in Opening Day win
Ryu (1-0) got the win against the Diamondbacks on Thursday, scattering four hits and just one earned run over six strong innings, striking out eight with no walks as the Dodgers cruised to a 12-5 victory. Ryu got the nod for the Opening Day start with Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) sidelined and didn’t disappoint, with the sixth-inning solo shot he served up to Adam Jones the only earned run he yielded on the day. The lefty will look to keep it going in his next start, which will pit him against Madison Bumgarner and the Giants on Tuesday.
Kolton Wong went 2-for-3 with two home runs in Thursday’s loss to the Brewers. Wong launched a two-run homer in the second inning and a solo shot in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to defeat Milwaukee on Opening Day. The 28-year-old second baseman finished with nine home runs over 127 games last year, so while this was a nice start to the 2019 campaign, a big power breakout is unlikely. Wong’s career high for home runs in a season is 12, which dates back to 2014.
Kenta Maeda (1-0) earned a victory, allowing three runs on five hits over 6.2 innings against the Diamondbacks on Saturday. He struck out six and walked two. The 30-year-old gave up all three of his runs on solo homers. That’s unusual for Maeda, who posted a 0.9 HR/9 rate last year. He also wasn’t quite up to snuff in the strikeout department. Maeda struck out 11.0 per nine innings last year and eclipsed that number during spring training. He got off to a good-but-not-great start in that area with a rate under one punchout per inning Saturday night.
Related Posts
About The Author
