MLB Opening Day 2023: Highlights, live updates, and game previews

 MLB Opening Day 2023: Highlights, live updates, and game previews

It's opening day, so don your ballcap, get your mitt, and grab some Cracker Jack.

Beginning on Thursday, Major League Baseball will feature faster games, larger bases, and a number of the sport's biggest stars who will be back in action following memorable seasons in 2022 (Aaron Judge of the Yankees), thrilling World Baseball Classic appearances (Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout of the Angels), and lengthy PED suspensions (Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres as of mid-April).

Unsure of what to look out for? While you visit the stadium this spring, take a look at these four quick summaries of the storylines:

To speed up the game, three significant rule adjustments have been made.

League officials released a number of rule modifications intended to cut down on game time and reduce injuries last fall. According to league officials, the bases will be 44% larger, which will lessen collisions and promote thefts. Infield "shifts," in which infielders would crowd one side of the bases against a batter who favored that side, have also been outlawed by MLB.

The pitch clock, however, is the major one. This year, every pitch will be timed (20 seconds with runners on base, 15 if the bases are empty). The pitcher must start his motion before the clock hits zero or the call will be a ball; the batters must be in the box with eight seconds left on the clock to avoid being called for a strike.

The critics argued that if a pitch clock violation occurred during the most exciting situation imaginable—a tie game in the bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded and two outs—there would be a riot.

But, of course, that very same scenario occurred in February during an exhibition game between the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves during spring training, leaving batter Cal Conley laughing in shock as the game quickly ended in a tie. Well, there was a commotion.

However, the pitch clock will continue to be used throughout the regular season. According to MLB officials, the clock contributed to a 26-minute time reduction in minor league games and increased the number of steals. Similar outcomes would probably be appreciated in the big leagues, where the average game now lasts well over three hours.

Well, is this the Padres' year in San Diego?

The Padres were expected to have a banner year in 2017. San Diego, to their credit, came close. The Padres won 89 games, qualified for the postseason, and defeated the Mets and Dodgers (extra tasty) on their way to the NLCS before losing to the Phillies.

Yet without their All-Star shortstop, Fernando Tats Jr., who missed the whole 2022 season due to a broken wrist and an 80-game PED suspension that went into effect in August, that performance felt miraculous. Even with the mid-season blockbuster trade for the Nationals' rookie hitter Juan Soto, Tats' 42 home runs the previous season put him in first place in the National League; Adding him was difficult.

Tats is now healthy and can start playing for the Padres on April 20. (Until then, find him playing for the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Padres' Triple-A affiliate.) "I feel like I'm ready right now. If it would've been go day tomorrow, I would've been ready.

The Padres' lineup already included powerful hitters Manny Machado and Juan Soto before they added four-time All-Star Xander Bogaerts this offseason, so his return will be a tremendous boost for them. That is one impressive squad, and it could be just what San Diego needs to win its first World Series.

How will Aaron Judge build on his record-breaking home run campaign?

What a thrill it was to see the outstanding Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees finish the previous campaign by chasing #62 and shattering the American League home run record. As fans tuned into Yankees broadcasts in hopes of seeing the record-breaking home run, it revived the national frenzy surrounding home run chases from earlier in the century.

Let's be honest as we anticipate this season: He won't repeat it (probably). Yet if Judge can stay healthy, 40 or more home runs appear firmly within his grasp, and hitting 50 would place him in elite company.

His Yankees required it. Despite consistently making the playoffs, they haven't participated in a World Series since 2009. The most convincing of the many excuses is poor play in crucial situations, but at the end of the day, they have the necessary tools to advance to the Series but haven't done it.

Not to mention that the Houston Astros, who have recently been New York's most consistent playoff adversaries, are coming off of their own World Series triumph and appear prepared to be Yankee killers once again.

Can the Angels' star power be sufficient to finally get to the postseason?

The Los Angeles Angels have not one, but two household names on their roster: three-time MVP Mike Trout and dynamic two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, who has been compared to Babe Ruth (which is, amazingly, not really that crazy of a comparison).

Despite this, the Angels have yet to complete a season above.500, and since they haven't made the postseason since 2014, they hold the disgraceful distinction of having baseball's longest active postseason drought (tied with Detroit).

The must-see game-deciding duel between the two superstars, with Ohtani on the mound for his native Japan and Trout at the plate for the United States, nevertheless served as a reminder of just how terrific these two players can be during the World Baseball Classic (Ohtani got the clutch K, and Japan won, 3-2.)