Jake Arrieta makes his Phillies debut as Trevor Richards tries to prevent the Marlins from being swept. Richards’s first MLB start was mixed. He struck out five and walked just one in 4 1/3 innings, but the balls that were not missed were put into play to the tune of eight hits and five runs. Arrieta pitched well in his two career starts in Philadelphia, going 2-0 and allowing one run in 15 innings, that on a solo home run.

Tyler Mahle takes on Jameson Taillon as the Reds go for a series split at Pittsburgh. Mahle now has 26 MLB innings under his belt, and has yet to allow a home run. He’s avoided solid contract with only 15% of his balls in play classified as line drives. Six of the 25 home runs Taillon allowed in his career came off the bats of the Reds.

The Oakland Athletics send Kendall Graveman against MLB rookie Shohei Ohtani. Graveman struck out just two batters in ten innings, and he also walked just one batter. That means opponents are 15 for 40 putting the ball in play. He doesn’t seem to have lost any velocity, he’s just throwing hittable pitches. Ohtani’s last start was a week ago, so early on he is pitching on a Nippon Professional Baseball schedule. As a two-way player, we should watch to see if his pitching strikeouts exceed his batting strikeouts, and if his batting home runs exceed his pitching home runs. So far, so good.

Finally, the Mets go for a sweep in Washington as Matt Harvey takes on Tanner Roark. Harvey made a strong 2018 debut, allowing one hit and one walk in five innings while striking out five. Roark was good also, giving up one run in seven innings, walking one and striking out six. So far, Mickey Callaway is winning the new manager battle with Dave Martinez.

Enjoy!