A Look At MLB Regular-Season Series Opening March 28, 2024

ROCKIES at DIAMONDBACKS

• The Diamondbacks won all four series against the Rockies last season, winning six of seven games at home. Arizona is looking to win five consecutive series against a divisional opponent for the first time since winning five straight against the Giants in 2017 & 2018.

• In 2023, Colorado had its first-ever 100-loss season, finishing at 59-103. The Rockies finished 12 games behind any other NL team as it was the first time the team had ever finished with the outright worst record in the NL.

• Denver-born Kyle Freeland has made 179 career starts for the Rockies, the fourth most by any pitcher in team history. All other Colorado-born pitchers in team history have made a combined 46 career starts.

• Last season, Arizona joined the 2006 Cardinals, 1987 Twins and 1973 Mets as teams to lose more than 75 games and still reach the World Series. None of the previous three teams made the playoffs the next season with the Cardinals and Mets both having losing records.

• Corbin Carroll has 29 home runs, 12 triples and 56 stolen bases in his 187 career MLB games. The only player in MLB history to reach 30+ HR, 10+ 3B and 50+ SB in fewer than 200 career games is Bobby Bonds (193).

• Christian Walker will turn 33 on Thursday. Walker is one of five players in MLB history to hit an Opening Day home run on his birthday (March 28, 2019). No player has ever done so twice in a career (Scott Rolen 2000, Ian Stewart 2010, Jeff Mathis 2011, Matt Olson 2018).

TIGERS at WHITE SOX

• The Tigers won the season series against the White Sox last year, 8-5 (.615), for the first time since 2018 (12-7, .632). The last four series in Chicago (two in 2022, two in 2023) have all been sweeps with two by each team.

• The Tigers have missed the playoffs in each of the last nine seasons, tied with the Angels for the longest active playoff droughts in MLB. Detroit has posted a losing record in seven straight seasons, the second-longest streak in franchise history (12, 1994-2005).

• Spencer Torkelson led the Tigers with 31 home runs last season. At age 24, he became the third-youngest player in franchise history with a 30-homer season. Only Jason Thompson in 1977 and Matt Nokes in 1987 (each 23) were younger (using end-of-season ages).

• Last season was the White Sox’s fifth ever 100-loss season (1932, 1948, 1970, 2018). Chicago was last in MLB with a .291 on-base percentage, its worst mark since the 1968 “year of the pitcher” (.284).

• Luis Robert Jr. tallied 75 extra-base hits and 20 stolen bases in 2023. He was the first center fielder to achieve those numbers since Mike Trout in 2013 and the first White Sox player regardless of position.

• From July through the end of last season, Tarik Skubal struck out 32.9 percent of his batters faced (102-of-310). That was the highest rate in the AL and third in MLB behind Freddy Peralta (36.7%) and Spencer Strider (34.8%).

TWINS at ROYALS

• The last four series between the Twins and Royals in Kansas City have been sweeps with each team doing so twice. Kansas City has never had five straight series at home against a single opponent involve a sweep for either team (min. three games in series).

• Minnesota batters struck out 1654 times last season, the most in a single season in MLB history. The Twins struck out 10 or more times in 90 different games in 2023, also the most ever by an MLB team in a single season.

• Royce Lewis has 42 hits in his 29 career road games, already the most through 30 MLB road games by any player in Twins/Senators history. This century, the only other MLB’ers with 42 hits through 30 road games are Ichiro Suzuki (47), Ryan Braun (47) and Bo Bichette (43).

• Kansas City tied a franchise record with 106 losses last season (also 2005). This century, the Royals have seven 100-loss seasons while only one other team has even four seasons with 100 losses in that time (Pittsburgh – four).

• In his 12 starts for the Royals, Cole Ragans has thrown 89 strikeouts while allowing three home runs. In the modern era, the only other pitchers to have that many Ks while allowing so few home runs through 12 games with a team are Gio Gonzalez (Nationals), Dwight Gooden (Mets) and Bill Singer (Angels).

• Carlos Santana has walked 1213 times in his MLB career, the most of any player who starts 2024 on an active roster. The only Dominican-born players with more career walks are Albert Pujols (1373), Manny Ramirez (1329) and David Ortiz (1319), all of whom had at least 1500 more plate appearances than Santana.

NATIONALS at REDS

• Last season, the road team went 7-0 in this matchup as the Reds swept a four-game series in D.C. (July), and then the Nationals swept a three-game series in Cincinnati (August). The last time this matchup had three straight sweeps (min. three games) was 2007 and 2008.

• Washington has finished last in its division in each of the last four seasons, the longest active streak among all MLB teams. It is the Nationals’ longest streak in franchise history.

• Josiah Gray has 45 games with multiple walks allowed since the beginning of the 2022 season, second most in MLB behind Dylan Cease (51). The Nationals have a 21-24 (.467) record in those games.

• Lane Thomas recorded 28 home runs and 20 stolen bases last season, one of nine MLB players to reach those marks in 2023. The last Nationals player to reach those numbers in a season was Alfonso Soriano in 2006 (46, 41).

• Frankie Montas is the Reds’ Opening Day starter, Cincinnati’s fifth Opening Day starter over the last five seasons (since 2020). The only other teams to have five different Opening Day starting pitchers over the last five seasons are the Dodgers and Rangers.

• The Reds had eight different players last season with at least 10 stolen bases and five home runs. No other MLB team has had more such players in a season all-time.

BLUE JAYS at RAYS

• The Blue Jays and Rays have split their last 22 meetings evenly at 11 apiece and each team has had five hits in every game during this stretch. This is the second longest active streak in the MLB among current division opponents (Cardinals vs. Pirates, 23).

• The Blue Jays had just eight different pitchers start a game for them in 2023 – tied with the Nationals for the fewest of any MLB team. Toronto has only had fewer pitchers make a start in a season twice in franchise history – seven starters in both 1994 and 2016.

• Jose Berrios made 32 starts last season for Toronto, the fifth time since making his MLB debut in 2016 that he has started 32 or more games in a season. Berrios is tied with Gerrit Cole and Aaron Nola for the most such seasons since making his MLB debut in 2016.

• The Rays had a record of 99-63 (.611) last season, their third season in the last four years with a winning percentage higher than .600. That trails the Dodgers (four) for the most in MLB. Prior to this stretch, Tampa Bay had never had a winning percentage higher than .600 in its first 22 seasons as an MLB franchise.

• Zach Eflin had a 1.02 WHIP in his first season as a Ray – the lowest of any player in their first season with the franchise (min. 100 IP). Eflin also walked 1.22 batters per nine in 2023, only trailing Corey Kluber (1.15) for the lowest in year one with the Rays (min. 100 IP).

• Tampa Bay had 25 different pitchers win a game last season after it had 26 different players do so in 2022. The Rays are the only team in MLB history to have 25 different pitchers record a win for them in consecutive seasons.

CUBS at RANGERS

• The Rangers are hosting the Cubs for the first time since the 2019 season and fourth time ever (also: 2007 and 2010). The only remaining player on either team who appeared in that 2019 series is Jose Leclerc (pitched 2.1 innings in two games).

• The Cubs had a 23-31 (.436) record through the end of May last year but finished 59-48 (.551) for the rest of the season. That was the ninth-best record in MLB from June to the end of the season and the fifth best in the NL.

• Cody Bellinger was sixth in MLB with a .307 batting average after hitting .210 in 2022. The 97-point improvement was the largest year-to-year bump between two full seasons since Darin Erstad for the Angels in 2000 (.253 in 1999 to .355 in 2000; among qualified hitters)

• En route to the World Series title, the Rangers went 11-0 on the road in the postseason. They were the first team to go undefeated on the road and win a World Series since the 2005 White Sox.

• Corey Seager was second in MLB with a 1.013 OPS last season (Shohei Ohtani was first at 1.066). Seager was the third shortstop to ever finish top two in MLB in OPS for a season joining Robin Yount (1982), Arky Vaughn (1935) and Honus Wagner (six times).

• The Rangers were 6-0 in Nathan Eovaldi’s six postseason starts last year. Eovaldi’s team is 11-1 (.917) in his 12 career postseason starts, which is the best team record in any pitcher’s playoff starts all-time, just ahead of Ron Guidry (8-2, .800; minimum 10 starts).

BRAVES (0-0) at PHILLIES (0-0)

• The Braves won their regular-season series versus the Phillies in 2022 (11-8) and 2023 (8-5) but lost to them in the NLDS in both years (3-1 in 2022 and 2023). The Braves were 5-1 in Philadelphia last season but they lost the two NLDS games played at Citizens Bank Park.

• Atlanta hit 307 home runs last season, tying the MLB record set by Minnesota in 2019. The 2023 Braves were the second team in major-league history to have five players with 30 or more home runs in one season (2019 Twins) and the fourth team to have three players with 40 or more homers (1973 Braves, 1996-97 Rockies).

• Ronald Acuna Jr. hit 41 home runs last season while leading the majors with 73 stolen bases. He easily topped the former record for steals by a player in a 40-homer season, 46 by Alex Rodriguez in 1998. Acuna had a homer and a steal in 12 games last season, tying Barry Bonds (12 in 1973) for second most in MLB history, behind Rickey Henderson (13 in 1986).

• Spencer Strider led the majors last season in wins (20) and strikeouts (281). It was only the fourth time since 1986 that a pitcher finished a season as the outright MLB leader in wins and strikeouts. The others to do that are John Smoltz (1996 Braves), Randy Johnson (2002 Diamondbacks) and Justin Verlander (2011 Tigers).

• Phillies starters pitched 899 innings last season, the most of any National League team’s starting staff and third most in the majors, behind the Mariners (901.1) and Astros (900).

• Zack Wheeler has recorded more strikeouts than walks in each of his last 56 regular-season starts (April 23, 2022 to date). It’s the longest current streak of its kind by an MLB pitcher and the second longest by a Phillies pitcher in the modern era (1900 to date). Cliff Lee had and 84-start streak for the Phillies from 2011 to 2013.

GIANTS (0-0) at PADRES (1-1)

• The Padres won the season series, 8-5, against the Giants last season. San Francisco left 94 runners on base against San Diego, the most by the team against any opponent in 2023.

• San Diego split a two-game series with Los Angeles in Korea last week. The Padres collected 18 hits in the second game, which tied their season high from last season (7/22/2023 at Tigers & 9/24/2023 vs Cardinals).

• Xander Bogaerts had multiple hits in his first two games of the season. The last Padres player to get multiple hits in their first three games of the season was Mark Loretta in 2004.

• The Giants’ relievers pitched 705.1 innings last season, the most by any MLB team. San Francisco’s three highest seasons in team history for innings pitched by relievers have all come in the last three seasons (2023 – 705.1, 2022 – 650, 2021 – 623.2).

• Logan Webb is getting the Giants' first start of the season coming off a league-leading 24 quality starts (tied with Gerrit Cole). The last Giants pitcher before Webb to lead MLB in quality starts was Rick Reuschel with 28 in 1988 (tied with Orel Hershiser).

• Jorge Soler joins the Giants after hitting 36 home runs with the Marlins in 2023. The last player to hit 35 or more home runs and join the Giants the following season was Moises Alou, who hit 39 HR in 2004 with the Cubs and joined the Giants in 2005.

ANGELS (0-0) at ORIOLES (0-0)

• Baltimore took the season series against the Angels 5-2 last season. The Orioles had double-digit hits and single-digit strikeouts as a lineup in the last five matchups against the Angels – tied for the longest such active streak by any MLB team against a single opponent (Braves: five vs. Rockies).

• The Angels went 73-89 (.451) in 2023 for the team’s eighth consecutive losing season. This is MLB’s longest active streak entering 2024 and the Angels’ longest such streak of seasons in team history.

• Patrick Sandoval is getting the Opening Day nod for the Halos and is coming off a careerworst 1.51 WHIP in 2023. This is the second-highest WHIP by any Angels Opening Day starter in the previous season (2000 starter: Ken Hill 1.60 WHIP in 1999).

• Mike Trout has a career 1.014 OPS against righties entering 2024. Among the 863 RHB with 1000+ plate appearances against RHP in the last 50 years (since 1974), Trout is the only one with a career OPS above 1.000.

• The Orioles went 101-61 in 2023 just two seasons after going 52-110 in 2021. Baltimore’s increase of 49 wins over two seasons is tied for the seventh largest all-time and the largest since the Blue Jays improved by 52 wins between 1981 and 1983 (excluding 2020 season).

• Corbin Burnes enters 2024 on an active streak of three consecutive seasons with 200+ strikeouts and a sub-.350 opponent SLG. The only other pitchers to have a streak of at least three seasons this century are Clayton Kershaw (six: 2010-2015) and Justin Verlander (three: 2010-2012).

BREWERS (0-0) at METS (0-0)

• The Brewers are 20-8 in their last 28 games against the Mets, including six wins in seven games against them last season, when they swept a three-game series at home (April 3-5) and won three of four in New York (June 26-29).

• The Brewers lost six consecutive games from June 8-14 last year, dropping their record to 34-34. Milwaukee’s 58-36 (.617) record over the remainder of the season was fourth best in the majors, behind the Braves (62-32, .660), Dodgers (62-32, .660) and Orioles (59-36, .621).

• Freddy Peralta averaged 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings last season (210 SO in 165.2 IP), fourth highest in the majors among qualifying pitchers, behind Spencer Strider (13.5), Blake Snell (11.7) and Kevin Gausman (11.5). It was the second-best single-season strikeout rate by a qualifying pitcher in Brewers history, behind Corbin Burnes at 12.6 in 2021.

• The Mets were 101-61 in 2022 and 75-87 in 2023. Their 26-win drop in 2023 was the largest in the majors last season and the largest from one full season to the next in Mets history. Their largest decrease in wins before last year was 22 from 1976 (86-66) to 1977 (64-98).

• Pete Alonso hit the third-most home runs over a player’s first five seasons in MLB history (192 from 2019-23), behind Ralph Kiner (215, 1946-50) and Albert Pujols (201, 2001-05). Alonso played 106 fewer games than Pujols and 70 fewer games than Kiner.

• Jose Quintana allowed only 13 home runs in 241.1 innings over the past two seasons. His average of 0.48 home runs allowed per nine innings from 2022 through 2023 was the lowest in the majors among pitchers who threw 200 or more innings. Quintana’s home-run rate over his first 10 MLB seasons (2012-21) was 0.96 per nine innings, double his rate in 2022-23.

PIRATES (0-0) at MARLINS (0-0)

• The Marlins are 10-5 in their last 15 games against the Pirates and have held them to five or fewer runs in each of those matchups. It’s the longest active streak of games allowing five or fewer runs by any NL team against a single NL opponent.

• Pittsburgh finished the 2023 season 76-86 (.469), its 20th time this century finishing worse than .500 – the most of any MLB team.

• Mitch Keller is starting opening day for the Pirates for the second consecutive season. Keller struck out 74 batters looking in 2023, 10 more than any other pitcher in the majors last season (Zach Eflin – 64).

• The Marlins were an MLB-best 33-14 (.702) in games decided by one run last season. It was also Miami’s best such record in any season in team history, surpassing its 23-13 (.639) record in 1994, its second season as an MLB franchise.

• Jesus Luzardo struck out a career-high 208 batters for the Marlins in 2023 – 88 more strikeouts than he’s had in a prior season (2022 – 120). The only Miami pitchers with more strikeouts in a season all-time are 2016 Jose Fernandez (253) and 2000 Ryan Dempster (209).

• Luis Arraez has singled on 23.1% of his 2186 career plate appearances in the majors. The only players in the Wild Card era with a higher percentage of plate appearances ending in singles are Ichiro Suzuki at 23.4% and Tony Gwynn at 23.3% (min. 2000 plate appearances).

RED SOX (0-0) at MARINERS (0-0)

• Boston and Seattle split the season series last year, 3-3, with the Red Sox continuing what is now an eight-season streak with at least a .500 record against the Mariners. The Red Sox have one longer active such streak, against the Phillies (nine seasons).

• Boston finished the 2023 season with a 78-84 (.481) record and in last place in the AL East after doing so in 2022. The Red Sox have finished last in the AL East in consecutive seasons just one other time – in 2014 and 2015 – since the division’s inception in 1969.

• Rafael Devers has four seasons in his career with at least a .500 slugging percentage including last year (.500). The Red Sox franchise has had five third basemen finish a single season slugging .500 in its history outside of Devers (among qualifiers).

• The Mariners had 12 triples last season, tied with the Cardinals for fewest in MLB, their second full season in franchise history with 12 or fewer (11 in 2021). Since the Mariners joined the league in 1977, their two such seasons are behind only the Orioles and Yankees (four each).

• Cal Raleigh hit 30 home runs last season to lead all catchers. Only two catchers in Mariners history have hit 25 home runs: Raleigh himself (27 in 2022) and Mike Zunino (25 in 2017).

• Luis Castillo recorded 10.01 strikeouts per nine innings last season, the third Mariner ever to post at least 10.0 strikeouts per nine, joining Robbie Ray (2022) and Randy Johnson (six times: 1991-1995 & 1997; among qualifiers).

CARDINALS (0-0) at DODGERS (1-1)

• The Dodgers are on a five-game win streak at home against the Cardinals, their longest home winning streak in the matchup since a five-gamer in 1983. Their last longer home streak against St. Louis was six straight across the 1979 and 1980 seasons.

• St. Louis’ 71-91 record last season ended a streak of 15 straight seasons with a winning record, tied for the longest in team history (1939-1953). The Cardinals haven’t had consecutive 90-loss seasons since doing so in 1912 and 1913.

• Paul Goldschmidt has 340 career home runs while Nolan Areando has hit 325. The Cardinals are the only team to have multiple players with 300 career home runs on their roster (incl. IL/suspended list).

• The Dodgers had 16 hits and allowed 18 in their 15-11 loss to the Padres last Thursday. It was the first time the Dodgers had and allowed 10+ runs with 15+ hits in the same game since July 21, 2008 at Colorado.

• Mookie Betts had seven RBI in the Dodgers’ opening two games against the Padres with a six-run effort in the second two games. The seven RBI are the most through two team games of a season by a Dodger since Ken Landreaux had eight after two games in 1983.

• Shohei Ohtani is a .357 lifetime hitter in his 15 games at Dodger Stadium with a 1.136 OPS. Three of Ohtani’s four career RBI at the venue came in his most recent game there (July 8, 2023).

GUARDIANS (0-0) at ATHLETICS (0-0)

• The Guardians are 11-2 against the Athletics since the beginning of the 2022 season, their best record against any opponent over that span.

• Cleveland is looking to win its fifth consecutive series against Oakland for the first time since 1993-1995 (also five straight).

• Cleveland finished fifth in MLB last season with 151 stolen bases, its third straight season finishing in the top five in that category. The last time it did this in at least three consecutive seasons was between 1993 and 1996 (four).

• Jose Ramirez has played 1293 games in his MLB career, all with Cleveland. Among players that have only played for the Guardians franchise, Jack Graney (1910-1922) is the only one with more career games (1402).

• Shane Bieber is making his fifth consecutive Opening Day start for the Guardians, the longest active streak by any pitcher with a single team. It is also tied for the longest streak in franchise history, along with Corey Kluber (2015-2019) and Stan Coveleski (1917-1921).

• Oakland has finished below .400 in each of the last two seasons, doing so in back-to-back years for the first time since 1964-1965. The Athletics’ negative-339 run differential in 2023 was the worst by any MLB team since the Red Sox in 1932 (-349).

• Alex Wood (making his Athletics debut) is looking to become the second pitcher in MLB history to start at least 10 games for the Athletics, Dodgers and Giants. The only previous player to do so was Waite Hoyt (14 – Athletics, 24 – Dodgers and 12 – Giants).

YANKEES (0-0) at ASTROS (0-0)

• The Yankees and Astros are 30-30 in regular season games against each other in the last 10 seasons (since 2014) including an 8-8-3 deadlock in their series. Houston has a slight edge in run differential in this span, outscoring New York, 260-259.

• The Yankees went 82-80 (.506) in 2023, marking their 31st consecutive season going better than .500. In MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL history, the only longer streaks of seasons finishing better than .500 (point percentage for NHL) are the Yankees themselves at 39 between 1926 - 1964 and the Montreal Canadians at 32 between 1951-52 – 1982-83.

• Nestor Cortes entered the Yankees’ starting rotation in the 2021 season and since then he has a .233 opponent OBP when facing the opposing lineup for the first time. Only Aaron Nola (.232) has a lower percentage among starters in that span (min. 500 batters faced).

• The Astros had 11 hitters with double-digit homers in 2023 behind the Twins (12) for the most of any MLB team. Their 11 players hitting 10 or more home runs last year are tied for their most in any season in history (2015, 2017).

• Framber Valdez enters 2024 with three consecutive seasons with at least 100 innings pitched and a sub-3.50 ERA. The only Houston pitcher in the Wild Card era with a longer streak of such seasons is Roy Oswalt with seven between 2001 and 2007.

• Yordan Alvarez has a .588 SLG through five career MLB seasons -- the 10th highest SLG by any player through five career seasons in MLB history (min. 2000 plate appearances). The only players to debut this century with a higher SLG through five career MLB seasons are Albert Pujols (.621) and Ryan Howard (.590).