Opening Day: Halladay honoured, Stanton slams

Game Recap | Box Score

In addition to the usual pomp and ceremony of Opening Day, the Blue Jays honoured Roy Halladay by retiring his number 32. While he may or may not make it to the Hall of Fame, he was without a doubt the ace of their pitching staff for most of the 2000’s. With his accidental death in 2017, it was an honour I’m sure his family was touched to receive.

The first observation of the season was, “What the hell is up with Josh Donaldson’s arm?”. His first attempt to throw the ball to first base was like more of a lob. There were three other attempts to throw that was either way off line or soft. It’s clear there is something wrong with his shoulder and shouldn’t be at third base.

Greg Chisholm on Twitter: “Gibbons said Donaldson’s arm feels “dead” as in a dead arm. Doesn’t believe he’s injured. “Not a big deal, it’s just dead.” Which might be a candidate for quote of the year. #BlueJays”

Luis Severino was sharp, blanking the Blue Jays through most of 6 innings while J.A. Happ just alright. As expected, Giancarlo Stanton tagged Happ for a long two-run home run in the first and homered again in the 9th against ex-Yankee, Tyler Clippard. Stanton was by far the best part of the Yankees lineup, going three for five with four RBI’s.

In classic John Gibbons style bullpen management, he managed to use five different relievers to complete the game. While it may only be the first game of the season, the goal should be to give everyone a bit of action day one.

Here’s what happened at the other Opening Day games. Welcome to the 2018 baseball season!