Pretend MLB Opening Day is June 10

There is probably no other day on the schedule that has more people checking in on their Fantasy teams more than on MLB Opening Day. There are always some out-of-nowhere performances by Fantasy free agents, and there are always some early round pitchers that get inexplicably hammered.

So while you might be ready to over-manage your Fantasy Baseball team after just one day of games, think about this:

Are you going to cut off one millimeter from your hair today because it grew too quickly since your haircut Monday?

How much did your savings account increase from last night to today?

How much weight did you lose when you walked from your bedroom to the fridge this morning? How much weight did you gain after eating three slices of pizza for breakfast?

Anyone that has followed baseball for a few years knows that Opening Day always brings up the name Tuffy Rhodes — and for good reason.

In 1994, Rhodes smacked three homers for the Cubs on Opening Day – becoming the first NL player to ever accomplish the feat. Imagine the rush to the waiver wire that day! Unfortunately, in all six seasons of his major league career, he only went on to hit 10 more home runs.

Don’t value MLB Opening Day bigger than any other day in the majors.

If you feel the urge to grab a player, which likely means giving up on another player you’ve researched all offseason, then think about June 10, 2007.

On that day, Raul Casanova, Craig Counsell, Mike Fontenot, Mark Grudzielanek, Brendan Harris, Miguel Olivo, Tony Pena, Robb Quinlan and Marco Scutaro all homered on the same day in what I have termed, “The Day Light-Hitters Struck Back!”

It was just another random day during a six-month MLB regular season.

Just like Opening Day.

5 MLB Opening Day Performances to Be Skeptical About

Seth Smith, Seattle: 3-for-3, 7 total bases, 2 RBI, 1 R
Chris Tillman, Baltimore: 6.2 IP, 4 HA, 3 BB, ER, W
Sam Fuld, Oakland: 2-for-4, triple, R, BB
Adam Lind, Milwaukee: 3-for-4
Mike Moustakas, Kansas City: 2-for-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB

I’m not saying these guys will never do anything as good again, but I am saying let’s see their stats over the course of the next few weeks before you dump a player you loved this past offseason that’s struggling. I’m even a little skeptical of Sonny Gray’s MLB Opening Day performance, but at least he’s still a top-25 starting pitcher.