Opening day in Washington get MG as a sponsor as Marco Gonzales of the Pirates takes on MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals. Gonzalez returns to the National League for the first time since 2017 when he pitched for the Cardinals. His low K rate allows lots of balls in play, but his .291 BABIP means that he limits hits. Gore walks a ton of batters, and needs to get that under control to move to the next level. He was better at that in the minor leagues.

The Rangers go on the road to face the Rays with Dane Dunning taking the mound against Ryan Pepiot. Dunning saw his K rate degrade each year of his career, but he brought his home run and walk rates down to compensate. Pepiot owns a 2.76 ERA in 78 1/3 MLB innings, but his FIPs are much higher. He did pitch well with runners in scoring position.

Finally, the Giants travel to Los Angeles to meet their ancient rivals the Dodgers. Keaton Winn hurls against James Paxton. In his brief MLB time, Winn posted a walk rate of 1.7 per nine innings. That was his strength in the minors as well, but not quite that good. Paxton abandoned his cut fastball for a slider last season, He had to recover from both Tommy John surgery and a subsequent lat tear. It’s possible he can’t throw the pitch anymore.

Enjoy!