Greetings, friends. We’re back for another baseball season. More importantly, we have a fun new series this year.

Welcome to the Daily Opener.

Every morning, I’ll be with you to recap the previous day of baseball and talk about what stood out to me. We’ll find fun stats. We’ll lament some injuries. We’ll take a peek at the day ahead. And we’ll have a few laughs.

Have questions or just want to talk baseball? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime.

Top Stories

We’re going headlines style today:

• MLW: Rowdy Tellez homers twice, drives in eight runs. His Statcast page is RED.
• LAA: Jared Walsh goes deep, drives in four runs
• TEX: Martin Perez goes seven scoreless in Philly
• PHI: Zack Wheeler pulled after 7 2/3 scoreless frames. Velocity looks like it’s back?
• TOR: Yusei Kikuchi goes six, allows just one run
• TB: Corey Kluber fires six scoreless in no-decision
• CIN: Luis Castillo expected to make season debut Monday
• BOS: Red Sox bullpen blows it again! Hooray for Chaim Bloom!
• ARI: Madison Bumgarner gets ejected after the first inning in an extremely bizarre scene

Fun!

Kevin Gausman has struck out 41 batters, walked 0 and balked once.

If the season ended today, Gausman would have the record for most innings (31.2) pitched with more balks than walks.

— Michael Clair (@michaelsclair) May 4, 2022

Rub Some Dirt On It (Injuries)

• TOR: Teoscar Hernandez expected to return on Thursday
• WAS: Nelson Cruz (back) held out of Nationals lineup
• CIN: Nick Lodolo (back) to return to Reds’ rotation Saturday
• SD: Blake Snell (groin) logs second MiLB rehab start
• CWS: Andrew Vaughn (hand) could be headed to the IL

Studs and Duds

Here are some of the best and worst performances from yesterday.

Studs (Pitchers)

• Adam Wainwright – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K in win over Royals
• Frankie Montas – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K in no-decision
• Zack Wheeler – 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 K in no-decision
• Corey Kluber – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K in no-decision
• Martin Perez – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K in no-decision
• Yusei Kikuchi – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K in win over Yankees
• Garrett Whitlock – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 9 K in no-decision
• Lucas Giolito – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 10 K in win over Cubs
• Justin Verlander – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, only 3 K in win over Mariners

Studs (Hitters)

• Rowdy Tellez – 4-6, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 R
• Tyler O’Neill – 2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Jared Walsh – 3-5, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
• Andrew McCutchen – 4-5, 4 RBI, 2 R
• Jon Berti – 2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Jesus Aguilar – 3-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R
• Alex Bregman – 3-3, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Daniel Vogelbach – 2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R
• Daulton Varsho – 2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Mookie Betts – 2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Duds (Pitchers)

• Dylan Bundy – 3.2 IP, 9 ER, 11 H, 2 BB, 3 K in loss to Orioles
• Vladimir Gutierrez – 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 2 K in loss to Brewers
• Lucas Sims – 0.2 IP, 5 ER, 1 H, 4 BB, 1 K
• Elieser Hernandez – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K in no-decision
• Kris Bubic – 0.1 IP, 4 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K in loss to Cardinals
• Matt Brash – 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 K in loss to Astros

Duds (Hitters)

• Wander Franco – 0-for-5 with 1 K
• Alec Bohm – 0-for-5 with 2 K
• Salvador Perez – 0-for-4 with 3 more K
  • Is it time to be concerned about Salvador Perez?
  • Batting .167 with a 31.6% strikeout rate through 23 games
  • And batting .115 over the last two weeks…

DOUBLE (header) TROUBLE

• Jonathan Schoop – 0-for-8 with 3 Ks across both games of a doubleheader. OUCH.
• Javier Baez – also 0-for-8 with 1 K
• Trent Grisham – 0-for-8, 2 BB, 3 K
• Ke’Bryan Hayes – 0-for-7, 1 BB, 2 K
• Spencer Torkelson – 0-for-6, 1 BB, 1 K

Dingers

Here is every player who hit a home run yesterday:

Rowdy Tellez (x2)
Jon Berti (x2)
Tyler O’Neill
Jared Walsh
Nolan Arenado
Jesus Aguilar
Daulton Varsho
Mookie Betts
Cedric Mullins
Anthony Rendon
Jose Abreu
Max Muncy
Guillermo Heredia
Patrick Wisdom
Pavin Smith
Xander Bogaerts
Matt Chapman
Max Stassi
Lane Thomas
Taylor Ward
Joey Gallo
Eugenio Suarez
Carlos Correa
Nico Hoerner
Ramon Urias
Brandon Crawford
Leury Garcia
Manny Machado
Daniel Vogelbach
Kolten Wong
Luis Guillorme
Roberto Perez

Swipes

Here is every player who stole a base yesterday:

Manny Machado
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Randy Arozarena
Jake Marisnick
Tommy Edman
Akil Baddoo
Nick Madrigal
Brad Miller
Paul DeJong
Luis Gonzalez
Eli White
Jose Ramirez
Roman Quinn
Myles Straw
Kyle Farmer

Arm Barn Report

Here is every player who recorded a save yesterday:

Ian Kennedy
Daniel Bard
Liam Hendriks
Andrew Kittredge
Taylor Rogers
Jordan Romano
Gregory Soto
Joe Barlow
David Bednar

Check out all of our weekly fantasy baseball content

Today’s Starting Lineup

• No national games today, but the ESPN+ game is Blue Jays vs. Guardians.
• Rays vs. Mariners later tonight features a great lefty pitching matchup in Shane McClanahan vs. Robbie Ray

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Mike Maher is an editor and content manager at FantasyPros and BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive, follow him on Twitter @MikeMaher, and visit his Philadelphia Eagles blog, The Birds Blitz.