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| Vladdy: got one |
The first batter José Berríos faced in this nascent 2024 season, Yandy Díaz (more like Dandy Yiaz, in that he truly is a dandy of a baseball player), ripped one down the line for a tidy homer just above that strange little left-field wall they have in the dreaded Trop. But aside from that inauspicious start, pretty much everything went perfectly: homers from George Springer (a genuine Springer Dinger), Cavan Biggio (who also made a great play at second to save an imperfect Alejandro Kirk throw and sweep-tag the runner, somehow), and a truly monstrous four-hundred-fifty foot Vladdy moonshot that landed somewhere up above the batter's eye in centre. Berríos, for his part, pitched six lovely innings against what looks to be another frustratingly good Rays team, aided by really nice infield defense all around: Bo with some slickness; Vladdy stretching out all long plus running down foul balls in over-the-shoulder fashion (this makes him so happy); Biggio with the great play mentioned parenthetically above; and the Odyssean adequacy of Isiah Kiner-Falefa at third (we will miss Matt Chapman, almost certainly for the rest of our days, but IKF will be more fine). The bullpen is in slightly rough shape to start the year, with Swanson and Romano both on the Injured List, but Richards, Pearson (of whom I remain wary!), and Mayza handled things no problem over the final three frames. It was all a blast! Did we overdo it, at our place, on root beers, hot dogs, and crinkle-cut oven fries? Necessarily, yes, but it was Opening Day, and you only get so many. Let us savour them all.
KS
