Early MLB highlights: Guerrero's slugging, Kershaw's perfect game that wasn't
Baseball is back, and there was no shortage of highlights over the opening week-plus of the season.
•Faced with the daunting challenge of overtaking two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani for American League MVP honors, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. came out swinging and hit 5 home runs in his first 8 games.
Just a month past his 23rd birthday, the Blue Jays' first baseman with the Hall of Fame father went deep three times in an April 13 win over the Yankees.
•You knew the first month of the season was going to be a little odd following a 99-day lockout and condensed spring training, especially with pitchers.
In his first start of the season for the Dodgers Wednesday, Clayton Kershaw had a perfect game going against the Twins through 7 innings.
The standout lefty's pitch count was 80, so manager Dave Roberts removed him from the game and was criticized by representatives from both the old and new schools.
No-hitters have become pretty common, but perfect games are quite rare.
It was a tough call by Robert, no doubt, but the 34-year-old Kershaw has a long history of injuries and he backed his manager's decision.
•Last year it was the White Sox's Yermin Mercedes. This year, it's Cleveland's Steven Kwan.
There always seems to be an unknown rookie that comes out hot, and Kwan qualifies after hitting .455/.606/.636 in his first 7 games for the Guardians.
Talk about making crazy contact, the outfielder saw 116 pitches before finally swinging and missing.
•Joe Maddon has always been unconventional, but the former Cubs manager went off the rails Friday in the Angels' dugout. Or did he?
With Texas already leading Los Angeles, the Rangers had the bases loaded and Maddon forced in another run by calling for an intentional walk of Corey Seager. Mike Trout, among others, was baffled by the decision but the Angels took the heat off Maddon by rallying for a 9-6 win.
Why did he do it?
"I thought by walking Seager, it would avoid the big blow," Maddon said. "And just to stir up the group, quite frankly. It's not something you normally do. I thought by going up there and doing something like that, the team might respond to something like that."
•Locally, the White Sox and Cubs are both off to promising starts.
The Sox seem to add key players to the injury report every day and they keep on winning.
"Everybody goes through it," Sox manager Tony La Russa said. "There are injuries all over both leagues, all teams. It's one of those things, if you make an excuse, the games count and they're going to hold you accountable for your record. We're deep enough to cover."
The Cubs paid a premium price to bring right fielder Seiya Suzuki over from Japan, but the sweet-swinging right fielder is earning his keep early.
Heading into Saturday night's game at Colorado, Suzuki was slashing .368/.500/.895 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI. Not too shabby.
•Carlos Rodon got off to a torrid start with the White Sox last season before being slowed by another shoulder ailment.
Now with the Giants after the free agent signed a two-year, $44 million contract, Rodon is rolling again early. In his first 2 starts for San Francisco, the left-hander has allowed 2 earned runs in 12 innings while piling up 21 strikeouts.