April 1: Opening Day! The sight of fresh cut grass. The smell of roasted peanuts and hot mustard spread on a beautiful hot dog. The sounds of children laughing and playing at the ballpark. There's not much better than that feeling when they scan your ticket, and you walk through the gate. Unless you are a fan of the Mission Viejo Maulers. What a dumpster fire! Brad Keller? Cedric Mullins? Josh Reddick? Austin Gomber? These are starters for the Opening Day Roster of the Maulers. Woof.
Ultimately, the purpose of the Mouth of the South is to comment here and there on the RDBL. Trends? Hot streaks? Dumpster fires? It will all be here. Let's dive into Opening Day.
The Fringe. Giolito and Bieber didn't light the world on fire, but neither struggled. But the bats came alive, and Sandy Alcantara was absolutely dealing. The Mouth had the Fringe as the favorite this year, and Day 1 definitely did not disappoint.
Goldschmidt and Merrifield absolutely lived up to their Ducks contracts. But The Mouth refuses to say anything positive about Matthew Boyd. So we need to move on.
The Taters and Stacks had opposite days. Stacks offense was fantastic, 11 for 37 with 7 extra base hits and 10 walks, with mediocre pitching. The ironically named Taters couldn't hit, but Gausman and Nola were filthy, dropping 50.
The Aristocrats were the team to jump the most on The Mouth's ranks after draft night, and a huge reason was stealing Zack Greinke for $31. His opening night 30 point performance was precisely why.
The Clovers, CBS's favorite choice for the 2021 championship, got screwed. Losing 6 starts to COVID, the short-handed offense was solid. The pitching staff was an abomination. -18 off 2 starts and 2 relief appearances will keep GM Chris Shelley up late tonight. And for good reason.
Falcons looked fantastic at the dish, posting 25.5 on offense while sitting in 9th without an Opening Day starting pitcher. Many believed this was a rebuilding season for the franchise, but they seem to always be in contention year after year.
Grapes were nipped by the injury bug this offseason, and considering their roster filled with free agents they had a nice start to the season. Bobby Dalbec could be a franchise altering $7 contract.
Not much to say about the Devils and Goutfish, with limited pitching opportunities their offenses sputtered Thursday as they sit on the right side of the Gametracker standings.
The Jokers played exactly like that today. With only $31 spent on pitching, they will need Singer, Gibson, Bumgarner, and crew to step up and outplay their contracts to contend. -46 on pitching on Thursday was crushing, but the high-paid offense dropped 44 going 16 for 47, and will need to continue that to move the Jokers up the board.
The Fightin' Fish are certainly another contender. Aggressive in the offseason, Tyler Glasnow paid off tonight. We certainly don't expect Luis Castillo to get rattled like he did tonight, so expect to hear a lot from the Fish over the next few weeks.
The Mouth will comment on the Hops and Hammerheads when they reply to a trade offer...
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