5 things that stood out during the Cleveland Guardians Opening Day

The Cleveland Guardians did not start the regular season off strong against the Seattle Mariners.

The Cleveland Guardians needed a better Opening Day than what they got on Thursday. The Guardians’ offense was kept in check all game, with the team mustering just four hits and no walks against a stout Seattle Mariners pitching staff.

Luis Castillo did real damage in the six innings he pitched, making the Guardians lineup look like past versions. There was no real damage to be done all day. The Guardians’ pitching looked great until James Karinchak got into the game.

The good guys lost 3-0, and are now 0-1 on the season.

Five things that stood out from the Cleveland Guardians Opening Day

Shane Bieber looked incredible

Shane Bieber gave up six hits on the day but didn’t allow one person to cross home plate. He only struck out six, but with the new pitch clock to get used to, a period of adjustment will be needed.

The lineup didn’t walk once

You can excuse the lack of hits to some degree, it’s opening day, and Castillo is no slouch but the fact everyone in the Guardians rotation was chasing isn’t great to see. The lineup didn’t muster a single base-on-balls (walks) and stuck out nine times.

Will Brennan got the start over Oscar Gonzalez

Will Brennan appears to be the starter in right field over Oscar Gonzalez. This may limit how much power we see in the lineup on a given day. It could just be a matchup situation, but it may be more than that.

James Karinchak is off to a bad start

James Karinchak was the one reliever who could be considered “all or nothing” and last night he was certainly on the nothing end of the spectrum. He did the triple-crowning of giving up base runners; one walk, one hit, and one hit-by-pitch. He ended up giving up all three runs the team allowed.

The Pitch Clock is already costing the Guardians

While the home run Karinchak gave up didn’t help things, the walk was facilitated in part by the pitch clock.