What an Opening Day for OF Wilyer Abreu—especially after battling a Spring Training virus. Always good to start on a positive note, but let’s debrief a few specific takeaways from our first real look at this team.
SP Crochet is an honest thrower of the baseball: Crochet lets the hitter see his stuff and dares them to hit it consistently. His command was spotty to start the season, but the velocity on his fastball and the break on his cutter show he’s not just out there mixing things up for the sake of it. He attacks.
RP Whitlock offers flexibility: If a starter only goes five innings and the game is still hanging in the balance—just as we saw today—Garrett Whitlock provides the multi-inning relief you need to stay competitive while giving other arms a rest. With Buehler still relatively fresh off injury and Crochet transitioning from the bullpen, long outings might be rare this season. That’s why having Whitlock in the bullpen just makes infinite sense.
2B Campbell working through nerves: As we saw in his Spring Training progression, it’s clear that Campbell is dealing with some understandable early-season nerves. With his stoic demeanor, you might not see it on the surface, but both he and the team could benefit from a little more looseness and comfort at the plate.
Before we get into the meat of the season, let’s just acknowledge how refreshing it is to have a competitive lineup card again. The talent we saw today is close to what should always be the standard in Boston—and it’s about time.
Flavin Media 
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