The second weekend of Major League Baseball action is upon us with a morning-heavy schedule as teams that started on the road return home for their Opening Day. 16 Starting Pitchers are set to toe the rubber in the RDBL on Friday led by the Alamo Short Stacks who have five going.
Here's the latest On The Lookout for Friday, 4/5:
Projected Starters for Friday, 4/5:
Grapes: Greene (vs. NYM), Canning (vs. BOS)
Falcons: Hicks (vs. SD)
Stacks: Strider (@ ARZ), Skubal (vs. OAK), Jones (vs. BAL), Gilbert (@ MIL), Littell (@ COL)
Aristocrats: N/A
Clovers: N/A
Hammerheads: Crawford (@ LAA)
Maulers: N/A
Goutfish: Cease (@ SF)
Hops: N/A
Devils: Peralta (vs. SEA)
Ducks: Stroman (vs. TOR)
Jokers: Hendricks (vs. LAD), Quintana (@ CIN)
Tacos: Brown (@ TEX), Kikuchi (@ NYY)
Fringe: Rodriguez (@ PIT)
Pitching Matchup of the Day: Jones vs. Rodriguez
Two of the most exciting young arms in baseball will face off Friday afternoon as Fringe activation Grayson Rodriguez will take on Stacks right-hander Jared Jones. Rodriguez was excellent in his 2024 debut, posting 23.0 points while allowing just one run and striking out nine in six innings of work. Jones lived up to the hype in his major-league debut, notching 22 swings and misses on 89 pitches. According to MLB's Sarah Langs, 22 swings and misses are the most by a pitcher in their MLB debut in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
Stacks Looking for Big Day with Five Starters
The Alamo Short Stacks entered Period 3 with a 78.0 point lead, posting 281.0 points over a four day Period. Thanks to a 25-for-125 run in Period 3, the Stacks have a league-low 90.0 points this week and will be looking to change that in a big way Friday when they send five starting pitchers to the mound. Rainouts pushed co-aces Tarik Skubal and Spencer Strider back, a positive for Skubal who moved from a Mets matchup to the Sacramento Athletics today while Strider lost a start against the Chicago White Sox and now has to face the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks.
Hammerheads Posting Elite Strikeout Numbers
The Honolulu Hammerheads are off to a scorching start on the mound, leading the RDBL with 197.0 pitching points entering play on Friday. The staff has posted a 2.30 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over 62 2/3 innings, but the big number that stands out is a league-high 80 strikeouts.
Help on the Way for Fish?
While Jackson Holliday is getting all of the attention in the Triple-A Norwich lineup, Spokane Fightin' Fish outfielder Heston Kjerstad is off to a ridiculous .571/.581/1.214 start with five home runs and three doubles in 28 at-bats. The Orioles depth chart in Baltimore is loaded, so a call-up might not be imminent but Kjerstad, a two-time RDBL draftee who dealt with heart issues that forced him to miss 2021, looks poised for a strong future.