MLB Bullets is underway

Baseball is back!

• I don’t normally report on what happened in games because I trust you all to be able to read a box score or find a highlight show on TV. But let’s give a shout-out to White Sox DH Matt Davidson, who went all Tuffy Rhodes on the ball and clubbed three home runs on Opening Day against the Royals.
• The final free agent who rejected a qualifying offer has a team as the Cardinals have signed reliever Greg Holland to a one-year, $14 million deal. Or pretty close to what he would have gotten out of the QO, but now he doesn’t have to pitch half his games at Coors.
• Jeff Sullivan thinks that Holland-to-the-Cardinals was inevitable and explains what the Cardinals can expect out of Holland.
• Jon Heyman has 25 veteran free agents still looking for work, including John Lackey.
• Here’s a collection of “firsts” for the 2018 Opening Day.
• And here’s some facts from the first day of baseball.
• Jon Tayler has winners and losers from Opening Day.
• Hey, it wouldn’t be Opening Day without overreactions. Red Sox fans and the Boston media are already second-guessing new manager Alex Cora after Boston blew a 4-0 lead in the 8th inning and lost to the Rays, 6-4.
• And fellow rookie manager Gabe Kapler of the Phillies is facing questions after pulling starter Aaron Nola after just 68 pitches while leading 5-0 and the Phillies lost to the Braves, 8-5.
• Marlins fans are already wearing paper bags over their heads.
• This is something that doesn’t get stressed enough. Even the crappiest major league ballplayer you can think of is a helluva ballplayer. Jeff Sullivan uses the Marlins 22-2 seven-inning shellacking of the University of Miami Hurricanes team to show just how big a gap exists even between a very good college program and the worst major-league team you can think of.
• And “Marlins Man” is looking for a new team after the Marlins rejected his offer to purchase three years of season tickets. Does Derek Jeter realize he bought the Marlins and not the Yankees?
• Doug Glanville writes about how a ballplayer fits in with his teammates and how each player brings something different to the team. (I did not know Sammy Sosa was a big Whitney Houston fan.)
• Paul Lebowitz has three “Bold” predictions for the 2018 season.
• Dayn Perry ranks the top 50 players in MLB right now.
• Jerry Crasnick surveyed 43 front-office types and asked them seven questions about the 2018 season.
• SI.com talked to scouts and got a scouting report for every American League team.
• Jon Heyman has some potential breakout stars for 2018.
• Angels DH Shohei Ohtani made his major-league debut yesterday and went 1 for 5, singling in his first at-bat. Tim Brown has the story of Ohtani’s first day.
• Chelsea Janes has a great profile of Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper at the crossroads of his career. His last season in DC? Maybe.
• Ichiro Suzuki is in the twilight of his career, but the fans in Seattle gave him a thunderous welcome back to the Emerald City.
• Some bad news for the Blue Jays as third baseman Josh Donaldson is dealing with a “dead arm.”
• And Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki went on the 60-day disabled list with heel bone spurs.
• Giants closer Mark Melancon terms the pain he is dealing with in his arm is “very similar” to the pain that put him on the shelf much of last season.
• Very sad news as Mets and Expos legend Rusty Staub, “Le Grand Orange,” has died at 73.
• Sheryl Ring wonders if MLB might have a legal issue concerning players with concussions in the future.
• Scott Boeck notes that the Rockies are on the forefront of a trend in MLB in that they devote a greater portion of their payroll to their bullpen than their starting pitchers.
• The Astros did indeed put four men in the outfield against Rangers slugger Joey Gallo and it worked.
• Rob Mains looks at the history of the traditions of the seventh-inning stretch and “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.”
• This doesn’t apply to anyone around here, but Zack Kram has published a “cheat sheet” on the 2018 MLB season that will make the casual fan seem smart.
• The Padres new flagship radio station is already in hot water with the Padres for general sports talk radio scumminess.
• Alex Rodriguez called his first ballgame with the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew and he got an in-booth visit and kiss from his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.
• And finally, I thought I knew all bizarre stories from baseball’s seedier past, but somehow this one eluded me until yesterday. It’s the story of Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Len Koenecke, who responded to his release from the team in 1935 by attempting the first hijacking of a commercial airplane in US history. He was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher for his troubles. Why has Bob Costas not done an “MLB Network Presents” piece on this before?

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Although, I don’t know. Today’s been pretty good so far.