Camila Sosa
The first week of the 2022 MLB regular season is behind us and we will review the most relevant events of the first days of Major League Baseball.
Steven Kwan Makes Sure His Presence Is Felt
Much of the offseason in Cleveland featured the renaming of the franchise from the “Cleveland Indians” to the “Cleveland Cavaliers” after several years of controversy. The franchise did not have many momentous moves as it has been the case during recent campaigns and Steven Kwan’s stole the show.
However, the rookie native of Los Gatos, California, came up big in his first series of the season against the Kansas City Royals, etching his name in golden letters in baseball history. Following the Guardians’ win in the final game of the series on Monday, Kwan has now struck out 15 times during his first four games of his MLB career — a record unmatched since 1901.
Those performances helped him finish the series 9-13, with a batting average of .800, so many fans on social networks took the opportunity to joke about him as an MVP candidate, and, although this is a small sample, Kwan has already shown what he is capable of this season.
“Sho-Time” Ready to Defend His Crown
The phenom Shohei Ohtani was in charge of opening game for the Angels in this 2022 season and showed that he is eager to retain his crown as American League MVP in this new MLB campaign.
Although he only pitched 4.2 innings in his debut in this 2022 MLB season, the Japanese native struck out nine of the 14 Astros batters he faced, which was enough to consolidate his position as the pitcher who recorded the most strikeouts after one start in the American League. Ohtani is still cold with the bat, however, as evidenced by his .118 batting average after his first four games, but there is still time to improve in a fairly long season.
Miguel Cabrera: Nine Hits to Make History
This 2022 MLB season could be historic for Miguel Cabrera. After the Detroit Tigers’ 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox, the 38-year-old Venezuelan is just nine hits away from entering the 3,000-hit MLB club after connecting two hits in the win.
If so, Cabrera would become the second active player in the club along with Albert Pujols, as well as the fifth Latino on the list along with Adrián Beltré, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Clemente and Pujols himself.
Of course, as long as health is on the Venezuelan’s side after the injuries plagued him in the last years of his MLB career.
Another Long Season for the Orioles?
Little seems to have changed for the Orioles this year. The Baltimore team was swept in its opening series against the Tampa Bay Rays, but managed to pick up its first win of the MLB season on Monday with a 2-0 shutout of the Milwaukee Brewers.
However, with the Rays still competing beyond what the roster would lead one to believe, with the Blue Jays having strengthened tremendously, and with the Yankees and Red Sox being the winning teams by tradition in the American League East Division, the Orioles seem to have fallen behind and their post-season appearance for the first time since 2016 looks rather unlikely.
In fact, the numbers don’t help either. After four games, Baltimore is the MLB team with the lowest ERA (1.3) and their defensive and pitching numbers are not positive either, with opponents batting .297 and their WHIP being 1.58, and both records are the second worst in all of Major League Baseball.
Rockies Dominate at the Heights
The Colorado Rockies’ opening series of the 2022 MLB season looked to be quite complicated, as they were to receive a visit from the Dodgers and their entire offensive arsenal.
Games at Coors Field have always tended to have high scores and feature a lot of home runs due to the altitude and weather. However, the Rockies completely manhandled the Dodgers to win the series 2-1. Remarkably, Colorado’s pitchers allowed only one homerun in the entire series, which is something to note considering the conditions of their stadium and their opponent.
After their 6-4 win over the Rangers on Monday, the Rockies are fifth in the majors in ERA at 2.67 and also lead the NL West Division, and while they have not been a team that has been well known for their pitching, the franchise could be a force to be reckoned with if they can maintain this pace for much of the season.
