The 2026 MLB season has finally arrived. The season started out strong with the Opening Night game between the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants. All eyes were on Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. For the first time in his career, Judge went hitless in an opening game. Despite his poor performance, the Yankees secured a 7-0 win. The following day, the Yankees won 3-0. Judge was able to redeem himself with his first home run of the season. On Saturday, the Yankees got the series win 3-1. The Yankees gaining their first series win shows they are a threat to every other baseball team — once again proving they are the easiest team to hate because of their ability to consistently win.
Opening Day for 26 other teams began with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets. The Pirates’ star pitcher Paul Skenes was pulled during the first inning, only throwing 37 pitches. Although Skenes was the player pulled from the game, Oneil Cruz took some heat for the disastrous first inning as well. Cruz made two significant mistakes. He had a ball fly over his head with fully loaded bases, giving the Mets a three-run triple. Later on, he lost a fly ball, which gave the Mets a double. Cruz blamed his mistakes on the sun being in his face.
“I’m not as upset about this, for me personally as you know, people would probably think,” Skenes said. The poor momentum followed Pittsburgh throughout their next game, losing 2-4. In Sunday’s game, the Pirates won 4-3. Despite the win, the Pirates had a series loss. Paul Skenes did not play in Saturday’s or Sunday’s games. The Pirates have a decent lineup and a star pitcher, yet they have been unable to accomplish a winning season since Skenes’ arrival. The start to their season represents what looks like another season at the bottom of their division.
The St. Louis Cardinals debuted rookie Jonathan David “JJ” Wetherholt in an exciting comeback game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Wetherholt is the first St. Louis Cardinals player since 1957 to hit a home run on their debut on Opening Day. The Cardinals were down 7-1 during the top of the sixth inning and managed to be 7-9 by the bottom of the inning. On Saturday, the team had an incredible walk-off win from Wetherholt, but lost Sunday’s game 7-11.
The Houston Astros, who remained an intimidating team these past few seasons, had a dramatic first series for Opening Week. Houston went head to head with the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels are arguably one of the worst teams in the American League right now; Los Angeles has remained in the bottom of their division for several seasons. Despite their record, the Angels won Thursday’s game 3-0 and Friday’s game 6-2. The Astros were able to make a phenomenal comeback in Saturday’s game. The Angels were winning 6-0 during the top of the fifth inning until the Astros scored a double. By the sixth inning, the Astros had the lead and maintained it till the end, winning 9-11. The Astros also won Sunday’s game 7-9, making it a series tie.
The 2026 MLB Season has started off exciting. While there have been some predictable wins from teams, the week was also filled with unexpected comebacks and losses.
