Today’s Lineups
|
DIAMONDBACKS |
DODGERS |
|---|---|
|
Ketel Marte – 2B |
Shohei Ohtani – DH |
|
Corbin Carroll – RF |
Kyle Tucker – RF |
|
Geraldo Perdomo – SS |
Mookie Betts – SS |
|
Gabriel Moreno – C |
Freddie Freeman – 1B |
|
Nolan Arenado – 3B |
Will Smith – C |
|
Carlos Santana – 1B |
Max Muncy – 3B |
|
Jordan Lawlar – LF |
Teoscar Hernandez – LF |
|
Alek Thomas – CF |
Andy Pages – CF |
|
Tim Tawa – DH |
Miguel Rojas – 2B |
|
Zac Gallen – RHP |
Y. Yamamoto – RHP |
The season kicks off for the Diamondbacks, in Los Angeles against the World Champion Dodgers. The game is scheduled to start at 5:30 pm, and I’d probably recommend tuning it as close to that point as possible, unless you want to see the Dodgers getting their World Series rings and all that malarkey. [Hey, we are still the last team to beat Los Angeles in a post-season series] Mind you, with tonight’s game being a national game on NBC and Peacock, I’ve a feeling the broadcast is going to skew quite Dodgers heavy. If they mention us before the fourth inning, I’m going to call that a win.
It has been twenty-five years since the D-backs last beat the Dodgers on Opening Day. So it’s clearly about time, amIrite? That was a 3-2 victory in 2001, behind Randy Johnson, with a two-run shot from Luis Gonzalez in the seventh inning giving Arizona a come from behind victory. Since then, there have been four defeats and, to be honest, it has rarely been close. Only one of those losses has been by a margin less than six runs, with an overall run tally of 8-31. The last time we saw LA on Opening Day was in 2023, when Zac Gallen couldn’t get through five innings and took the L in an 8-2 loss. Still, that season ended up not too bad, didn’t it?
That’s definitely something to remember. It’s very easy to over-react – especially if you get pummeled, like the Giants did last night, or your ace and reigning Cy Young winner can’t get through one inning, like Pirates’ fans had to witness earlier today. But there’s a reason the baseball season is 162 games. It’s almost certain this team will lose sixty of them and win sixty of them. It’s what happens over the remaining forty-two – barely a quarter of the season – which will determine whether this year is a success or failure. So the odds are that today, in and of itself, won’t “matter” in the grand scheme of things.
Still, we hope for the best. There’s a lot of changes to look at here, with half the Diamondbacks line-up different from Opening Day last year:
On the mound, while Gallen remains the starting pitcher, none of the three relievers to come out against the Cubs (Ryne Nelson, Jalen Beeks and Bryce Jarvis) are in the 2026 version of the Arizona bullpen. All told, of the 26 players on the 2025 Opening Day roster, only eleven are also on the roster today. That feels low, though I haven’t checked to see how it compares to other teams. There may not have been a lot of high-profile changes over the winter – re-signing Kelly and Gallen were far and away the biggest moves – but there has certainly been a significant amount of roster churn. We’ll start to see how it works out tonight! Try and not over-react. 😀
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