10 things to be thankful for on Opening Day

Baseball is back and won't be leaving anytime soon.

Patience should be sold in bitcoin to sports fans. Something that seems to be in large supply always goes missing at the wrong moment.

A month ago, there was thorough suspicion that a portion of the 2022 MLB season would be cancelled or postponed. The reality was fierce and getting worse by the day. Owners and the Players Association were battling back and forth for the right deal for each side, and the fans were busy being left out in the winter cold.

Thankfully, the two sides found comfortable middle ground and after an abrupt spring training session, the regular season lives on today. While one could be mistaken by the 45 degree morning chill outside, the St. Louis Cardinals will engage the Pittsburgh Pirates downtown at Busch Stadium this afternoon.

Here are ten things to be thankful for as AC/DC’s Thunderstruck plays on my Mini Pod:

1. An even record. The Cards are 0-0 and have as big of a chance to win the World Series as the other 29 teams. The second best thing about Opening Day is the Joaquin Andujar factor: The “you never know” ideal that makes the game so rich. We have no course plotted at the moment. The deck is clear, Jack Dawson isn’t wooing Rose, and the band hasn’t even started practicing yet. Enjoy this day. Enjoy this week. Soon enough, the stress levels will rise and patience will be fleeting.

2. Adam Wainwright pitching to Yadier Molina. This is it. If everything goes on as planned, the duo could collect the elusive 325 starts required to hold the record for most starts by a particular pitcher/catcher duo. Talk about unlikely. Back in 2018, Wainwright was nearly finished and thinking about retiring. A healthy recovery and adapted mound approach later, and he was the pitching leader for this team last year.

Molina seems to collect new records each season, and 2022 will be no different. He has his own reasons to be hungry this summer. Imagine going out with your friends and collecting Gold Glove #10 at the same time. A tad far-fetched but very possible.

3. Albert Pujols taking at-bats in Cardinal Red. Get over the logistics of the situation, and dig into the excitement. Being excited for one of the franchise’s top 3 hitters returning for one last ride must be celebrated. Don’t worry about the right-handed pitcher on the mound. Also, JT Brubaker allowed 28 home runs in 2021 and isn’t the sharpest arm in the shed. Maybe Pujols gets into one. Will you cheer or judge the signing? Easy bet.

You will never see something like this in your lifetime, especially if you’re around 40 or over. Three team legends-three destined to wear red coats and even a couple MLB HOF jackets when it’s all said and done-going out together. Smile and appreciate the spectacle.

4. Dylan Carlson growing into a better baseball player. The team’s former #1 hitting prospect had a fine debut season, with a .780 OPS and 18 home runs. But he’s got more in store this year. He played a nice right field and showed some second half life, putting together an OPS that was .114 greater than before the All Star Break. Carlson is also 23 years old.

5. Jordan Hicks in bold waters. When I mentioned the mere possibility of the former closer entering the rotation this season, it had far-fetched undertones. He’s thrown 10 innings in the past two seasons, missing action with Tommy John surgery and recovery. But with Jack Flaherty on the mend and the front office holding onto its pitching dollars, Hicks is a more exciting option than Jake Woodford or Drew VerHagen.

It’s also the game evolving past the standard five starter set, with St. Louis taking a cue from Tampa Bay and using Hicks as an opener in the early going. He is set to get three innings on Tuesday against Mike Matheny and Kansas City, and grow from there. Remember when the team could barely get that from a starter last year outside of Waino? Let it play out. Opposing hitters dealing with 103 mph moving and diving everywhere can be chaos.

6. Oliver Marmol’s debut as skipper. He’s the youngest manager in baseball and an unlikely pick after the past three years. No matter how you define his hasty exit from the team, Mike Shildt had turned the franchise around in three-plus years. But Marmol was tapped to take over, and he’s already implementing new strategy and tactics. Is he merely a yes man or a new wave of dugout insight? Only time will tell, but he’s got some bold strokes going already. Let’s see what he can do.

7. Dakota Hudson being a potential rotation X-factor. Miles Mikolas can give you innings when healthy, but the results are a toss up. Wainwright is again the pitcher I am least worried about going into Opening Day. Steven Matz could be a fine #4 arm if good teams don’t rip him to shreds. Hicks is a walking project, and that’s fine. Flaherty is a month away at least, as is Alex Reyes. Hudson impressed at the end of last season, pitching in relief of a recovering (and still ailing) Flaherty as the team sprinted to a last minute playoff entrance.

If Hudson is on and a plus-starter this year, it flips the script on how fans look at the group. If Wainwright and Flaherty can give you solid 1-2 work and Mikolas has the proverbial #3 spot for now, a potent Hudson could lengthen the rotation in viability. If he struggles with command again, it could get ugly. Be good, Dakota. No pressure.

8. Tyler O’Neill hopefully becoming the everyday left fielder for the next 4-5 seasons. While I wasn’t jumping at the opportunity to sign him to a five year extension in November, I don’t think his 2021 campaign was a fluke either. After hitting just 21 home runs in a combined 171 games over his first three seasons in St. Louis, O’Neill ripped 34 last season, slashing .286/.352/.560 at the plate. He was the key to the offensive resurgence last August. Shildt put him in between Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, deepening the lineup and giving pitchers less options. Do that again, Tyler.

9. The Paul DeJong spring. The embattled shortstop would like to forget the past couple years, especially at the plate. Gone was the guy who could smoke 25 home runs and keep his average above .250. In his place was a second half hitter who looked like a guaranteed out. But the past few weeks revealed a new and reformed DeJong and while spring stats should be digested with a grain of salt, the hurried nature of this year’s exhibition schedule forced teams to pitch higher-end talent than the usual month-long splurge of A-AA minor league offerings.

10. Arenado and Goldschmidt. Just a couple Gold Glove-hogging, consistently hitting perennial All Stars at your corner positions. Remember when it was Matt Carpenter throwing across the diamond to Jose Martinez. Arenado’s second season should be more prolific than last year’s solid debut, but it’s Goldschmidt who destroyed spring pitching as well. He can be a slow starter at the plate, evidenced by his .767/1.020 OPS first and second half splits. If he’s locked in early on, the lineup is a game changer.

What else? The Clydesdales. A sea of red. A packed Busch. Ozzie, Tony, Torre, and friends. St. Louis Opening Day seasoning basically. Enough said.

Baseball is back, baby. Savor it.

Photo Credit: Jeff Curry/USA Today Sports