As a Reds fan, Opening Day could have scarcely gone better than it did. The Reds had a stirring comeback win in gut-punch fashion over a division rival, and their other top division rival, the Cardinals, lost after their closer gave up a game-tying homer and then they punted the ball in extra innings to hand the game to the Padres. Sure, it would have been nice to have Edinson Volquez pitch well, or Jonny Gomes, well, not play at all, but why quibble when the end result is so nice?

Anyhow, many of you are familiar with the format from last year, but typically this blog will appear late-nights after the games are completed or first thing in the morning by our crew. This isn't meant to be a wholly comprehensive review of the days' games, but it's what moves the needle for us. Feel free to suggest in the comments what was noteworthy for you.

Yankees 6, Tigers 3

- Operation Three Catchers is off to a booming start in AL Tout Wars, thanks to Russell Martin's stolen base. That's right, I |STAR|planned|STAR| to own three catchers, bitches. #NotReally
- So far it looks like Curtis Granderson's oblique is indeed fully healed. He was able to make a diving catch in the first inning, then later homered against lefty Phil Coke.
- RotoWire writer Shannon McKeown covers the Tigers for us, and he and I disagree on the merits of Phil Coke. I'm dubious that he'll successfully become this year's C.J. Wilson. Yesterday's poor outing isn't really a fair barometer of our disagreement, though. Coke had been stretched out all spring as a starter, but because he's their fifth starter, he was available as a reliever yesterday. Moreover, it was against the Yankees, in Yankee Stadium.
- Interesting to see Will Rhymes not only start with a left-hander on the mound, but still bat second. That's a pretty cushy spot in the order.
- Joba Chamberlain may not look good right now, but he was effective in his one inning of work.

Braves 2, Nationals 0

- There was actually a decent amount of offense over the first two innings of this game, but nothing after that. Chipper Jones had the first hit of the year, stretching a single into a double, and scored the first run of the season on Brian McCann's single. Seeing Chipper run like that was promising, given how he's coming back from a knee injury.
- The big fantasy news from this game was Craig Kimbrel getting the first save opportunity for the team and pitching a perfect ninth. Jonny Venters was perfect in the eighth inning.
- Tyler Clippard pitched in the seventh inning for the Nats, with a deficit. The team had already announced that Drew Storen and Sean Burnett would share the closing duties for the Nats, and this usage reinforces this. Burnett pitched the ninth for the Nats, so perhaps Storen will get the first save chance.

Reds 7, Brewers 6

- Rickie Weeks led off the season with a homer and later had an RBI double. His batting average may very well be a risk, but he's going to be a monster if he can stay on the field.
- Not only did Carlos Gomez homer, but he also walked! That's hard to do, for him.
- John Axford would have had a shaky outing even without blowing the save, but Casey McGehee did him no favors earlier in the inning. With none out and runners at first and second, he fielded a ball and attempted to tag the lead runner before throwing to first base. Brandon Phillips may or may not have gone out of the basepaths, but it was a bad decision regardless. Up three runs, McGehee had to focus on getting the sure out first before thinking about trying to get a double play.
- Takashi Saito pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two while working out of trouble. He's next in line behind Axford.
- It was mostly a good day on Stubbs Island. He opened the game with a double and scored and later homered. However, he also struck out twice later in the game with runners on base. The contact issues are what scares a number of owners away from him.

Angels 4, Royals 2

- Jeff Mathis homered and doubled. Before his broken wrist last April, Mathis was hitting .324/.351/.500. He then ended up as probably the worst semi-regular hitter in baseball after returning from the injury, ending up with a .497 OPS. It's worth remembering that at one point Mathis was actually a prospect. I don't endorse him for 2011 - it's actually more of a reflection of what's happened to a number of Angels hitting prospects. Two of their top three affiliates (Rancho Cucamonga and Salt Lake) play in high-run environments - does that ultimately hurt their prospects' development, or force us to overvalue them?
- Two batting order notes - Maicer Izturis hit leadoff and stole a base for the Angels, and Melky Cabrera hit second for the Royals and stole a base.
- Fernando Rodney converted a very bumpy save, allowing a hit and a walk, though he did strike out two. Kevin Jepsen was worse, though, failing to get out of the eighth inning while giving up a run on a Mike Aviles homer and two walks. Jordan Walden, however, bailed out Hisanori Takahashi in the seventh, striking out the only batter he faced.
- Aaron Crow struck out three in relief in his major league debut for the Royals. Get used to that phrase this year, Royals fans. Tim Collins also debuted, throwing a scoreless inning.

Padres 5, Cardinals 3

- Ryan Franklin suffered his first blown save, giving up a game-tying homer to Cameron Maybin.
- The news on Matt Holliday's appendectomy broke right as I was finishing this up - obviously this moves the needle quite a bit. John Jay is probably first in line to start, but given his awful throw (though in fairness, it didn't help that new shortstop Ryan Theriot bobbled it) yesterday, Allen Craig might also play a lot. Both will get their share of action - I doubt that Lance Berkman can handle playing the outfield every day.
- Albert Pujols' bad day does not move the needle. Relax, it's one game.
- Mat Latos (shoulder) threw a good bullpen session before the game.

Dodgers 2, Giants 1

- Sometimes a great pitching matchup really delivers, as was the case between Clayton Kershaw and Tim Lincecum. The 5:00 local time start didn't hurt matters, either.
- Jonathan Broxton got the save, but he also served up a solo homer to Pat Burrell.
- It was interesting to see Brandon Belt get the start at first base, even against a tough lefty in Kershaw. Belt held his own, going 1-for-3 (the hit being an infield single) and a walk.
- Matt Kemp stole his first base of the season - the Dodgers brought in Davey Lopes to improve the team's baserunning, and Kemp was a primary target of that effort after he got caught 15 times in 34 attempts last year.
- Barry Zito is uncertain for Sunday's start - he wore a neck brace to the park after getting in a car accident Wednesday.