Predicting how Opening Day goes for the Diamondbacks
Your alarm clock goes off, *ring ring ring*. You open your eyes, vision still a little blurry. Usually, you would be agitated, maybe even a little depressed, but not today. Today is different.
As you get out of bed you think, is it Christmas morning? Not quite, but the feeling is similar. God has blessed us with the gift of baseball, and we fans have waited exactly 175 days for today. The wait is over.
Do you notice that you have a little pep in your step today? Maybe you are humming your favorite tune. If you said yes, you are not alone. The sky seems a little bluer, the grass a little greener, and the songs of the birds a little more beautiful on Opening Day.
Work/school feels a little different today, doesn’t it? It is hard not to be filled with excitement for this young and upcoming team. Getting the chance to witness a full season of Corbin Carroll would suffice, but we get to watch other youngsters like Jake McCarthy, Gabriel Moreno, and Alek Thomas potentially develop into MLB stars as well. 7:10 can’t come soon enough…
Not only will this Diamondbacks team showcase some juvenile studs, but it will also boast some veterans that dominate in their respective fields. Zac Gallen gets the ball tonight coming off a season in which he was one of the most dominating pitchers in the entire MLB. Christian Walker will likely bat clean up where last season, he hit 36 HRs. Ketel Marte was top 10 in doubles last season. Many are the reasons to be excited.
Could anything bring you down on Opening Day? Does opening day make you so joyful that you’d pay for the person behind you at the register? Maybe you will go to a friend's house tonight to watch the game and eat pizza. Or maybe you will sit in the living room with your son or daughter explaining to them what a walk means or maybe how many innings are in a game; hopefully growing their interest in America's pastime. Maybe you are even making the trip to the game whereby baseball law you have to at least buy some peanuts or a hot dog and cheer as loudly as you can for your Diamondbacks.
The list of amazing things could go on and on when it comes to opening day. So when it is finally time for the first pitch, sit back, grab your favorite snack, maybe a cold one too, and relish at the beginning of another Diamondbacks season…
Predicting Diamondbacks Opening Day
Alright, I am done in my effort to pump you up for tonight. Now it is time to predict how Opening Day will go. It is hard to say precisely what will happen due to the fact that as of this moment, the lineups have yet to be announced. But I can make a pretty educated guess on who will start for both teams and who will impact the game in a meaningful way.
Allow me to take make my predictions 3 innings at a time. I predict that through 2 innings, there will be no score. In the top of the 3rd inning, Ketel Marte will hit a 2-run HR, breaking the scoreless tie. The 2-run lead will be brief however, as in the bottom of the 3rd, Miguel Rojas will hit an RBI double, cutting the Dodgers deficit in half. After 3 innings, Diamondbacks 2 - Dodgers 1.
I predict that neither the Diamondbacks nor the Dodgers will score in innings 4 through 6. I believe that through 6 innings, both pitchers will have 7 strikeouts, and 1 walk apiece. Heading into the 7th, Diamondbacks 2 - Dodgers 1.
The most vital part of the game, the final 3 innings. I believe that in the bottom of the 7th, Dodgers star Mookie Betts will hit a sac fly, tying the game at 2. Gallen will be at his pitch limit, and come out of the game with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th. Nobody will score in the 8th, but the 9th will be full of drama…
The score is 2-2, it is the top of the 9th on the road at Dodgers stadium. Who will come through? The answer, Diamondbacks #1 prospect Corbin Carroll. Every kid's backyard dream. With 1 out and a man on second base, Corbin Carroll blisters a ball down the right-field line, just staying fair. It hops over the short wall in right for a ground-rule double. Fortunately for the Dodgers because if not, Carroll is easily standing on 3rd by the time the ball reaches the infield. Arizona now leads, 3-2.
With the game on the line, and the heart of the order due up, newly signed reliever Scott McGough enters the game. After walking the leadoff batter, the crowd erupts and the stadium is bumping with music. But then McGough takes a deep breath, gets the sign from Moreno, comes set, lets it fly, and witnesses his dream scenario unfold. A ground ball. Ahmed to Marte, Marte onto Walker, double play. 1 simple out to go but this elusive last out comes with a heart attack stapled to it.
On the very next pitch, a fly ball is lifted into deep centerfield, Alek Thomas drifts back, back, back, he is running out of room. The fans are to their feet, they think with one swing of the bat, the game has been tied. But as their hearts fill with elation, Thomas tracks the ball, reaches up, and snags it on the warning track, back pressed against the wall. Game over. Diamondbacks win…
1-0.