It was as picture perfect an Opening Day as anyone could ask for. That is, until the Phillies' defense reared its ugly head.
But the South Philly bomb squad showed what it can do on offense, Aaron Nola pitched like an ace (for six innings at least), and the April skies were clear and sunny as Philadelphia won Game 1 of 162 by a score of 9-5, Friday afternoon.
And yes, that is the kind of score fans should get used to seeing this season.
Before the Phils get back at it tomorrow, let's take a moment to look at their much anticipated 2022 debut against the Oakland Athletics:
The good
• There were a lot of reasons why the Phillies missed the playoffs last season. The bullpen, injuries and lack of depth number among them for sure. But the team's lack of a true No. 2 starter — at least until Ranger Suarez broke out late in the season — was certainly a large factor in their demise. Aaron Nola was supposed to be that guy, an ace who made a run at a Cy Young award and one of the rare well-drafted homegrown players who panned out.
In spring training Nola was fine, sort of working his way into form. And in the season opener Friday he appeared to have all the kinks worked out. Nola had an easy 1-2-3 first and really didn't sniff trouble until a solo shot given up to Chad Pinder put the A's on the board for the first time four frames in. His ability to get ahead of hitters all afternoon long was an excellent sign that his command is back to where it needs to be.
He fell off a bit in the seventh inning despite only having thrown 65 pitches and his 75th pitch was a three-run home run to Seth Brown. He was yanked without retiring a batter in the seventh, with seven strikeouts, two flyouts and nine outs recorded on the ground.
• Kyle Schwarber's 14th career leadoff home run (which went 426 feet!) was exactly the start to the year Phillies fans expected — no, demand — from this high-powered offense.
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I wrote a little bit about Schwarber in the leadoff spot prior to Opening Day and said Segura was a better fit. However, walks and tone-setting homers are perfectly fine for a leadoff guy and it appears Schwarbs will be in that slot more often than not this season.
• Scoring runs via the sac fly is also likely to be a prominent weapon for these Phillies, who generated an insurance run in the sixth with the bases loaded on a Matt Vierling fly out to the warning track.
• Great heads up base-running by Jean Segura on what should have been a routine ground out in the second frame. He was able to advance to second on an E4 but would be stranded there. Another nod of the cap to Rhys Hoskins, who turned a single into a double after he drove in Harper with his RBI in a four-run third.
Harper went first to third after walking in the seventh inning, plating after Castellanos drilled his first hit as a Phillie to left field. He was thrown out advancing to third but the run was much-needed and put Philly ahead 7-5.
With a defense expected to be the worst in baseball, the Phillies can't afford to let slide any opportunities to pack their linescore with runs. They also don't exactly have the best running team. Harper, Realmuto, Segura, Schwarber and a few others can do some damage running the bases but aren't going to nab many bags by flashing lightning speed. The Phillies should be able to convert extra bases — something Harper is masterful at — but may trail the majors in stolen bases and attempts.
With an offense loaded with power bats, manager Joe Girardi may be forced to think twice before risking possible RBI chances with sacrifices or with stolen base attempts. This means the running game could be a little boring this season.
• Seranthony Dominguez had a seamless 1-2-3 inning in the eighth to stop the bleeding. You love to see it — and he could be the back of the bullpen rock this staff desperately needs.
• Every Phillies starter, except for Matt Vierling (who had a sac fly) collected a base hit Friday — with Hoskins, Schwarber and Stott getting more than one. The latter two hitters each knocked in insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to give the Phillies a four-run lead again.
A balanced offense, like the one they unleashed Friday will be absolutely key for this team to succeed this season, and in the dog days of summer not being dismantled by a couple guys slumping at once will be a major advantage.
The bad
• Nola was dealing through six innings, having allowed just one hit (a solo shot) before he trotted back out for the seventh. Two base hits to start the frame led to a three-run bomb that knocked him out of the contest. It is really hard to blame Girardi for letting Nola back in, after such success and such a low pitch count in this one. But it is easy to forget that pitchers are not as stretched out as they typically are this early in the season — particularly with the shortened spring training session.
Perhaps the Phils' manager will be more cautious with his starters the first few times through the order. Nola's day will be remembered as a solid outing despite his issues the third time through the batting order, though that is certainly something to keep an eye on as the season progresses. Hopefully Nola will be able to continue to deal later in games with opposing hitters more comfortable with his repertoire.
The seventh inning was also noteworthy because it was home to the Phillies' first error of the season, a missed snag by Rhys Hoskins at first base on a bang-bang ground ball and throw. A few batters later a line drive caromed off Bryson Stott's glove and was ruled a base hit. Not long after that, an error on Stott — a bad throw on a ground ball to first — resulted in yet another error and got the A's within one run. When the dust settled, a four-run inning cut Philly's lead to a lone run.
Defense is going to be an issue all year. The Phillies will need to hit their way out of it quite a bit this season.
• Harper is usually a really smart base-runner. However, in the third inning — with Schwarber on first — Harper drilled a line drive into center for an RBI single and tried to stretch it into a double. He should have been dead on arrival, as the ball got to the base well before the right fielder did. However, Tony Kemp's lackadaisical tag attempt missed Harper's leg completely and he was ruled safe at second. Kudos to Harper for his aggressiveness (and to Girardi for his successful challenge), but more often than not, he's out by a mile there:
The ugly beautiful
• Yes, this section is supposed to be for the ugly but we covered the ugly stuff enough in our bad section. Also, let's be honest — it was 68 degrees and a sold-out 44,232 fan crowd at Citizens Bank Park Friday afternoon. There were ear-popping ovations for Bryce Harper, for Schwarber, and Castellanos. There was a buzz in the full stadium for the first "normal" Opening Day here since 2019, and perhaps the best roster to play in the ballpark since 2011.
It was a beautiful day and the ugly will have to wait... at least for Game 2.
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