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For a pitcher with just 15 career starts under his belt, Cam Schlittler has looked every bit of a veteran on the mound for the Yankees.

It started last season when he made his debut in July, continued throughout the regular season and culminated in the postseason, where he had a start against the Boston Red Sox in which he went eight scoreless innings in a win-or-go-home game with 12 strikeouts.

Schlittler was similarly dominant on Friday against the San Francisco Giants despite being on a pitch count. The right-hander struck out eight through 5.1 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit in a rather dominant performance.

In fact, over his first 15 career regular season starts, Schlittler has shut out his opponent four times and that’s not including his epic playoff start against the Red Sox last year.

Suffice to say, Schlittler has impressed manager Aaron Boone, who was asked after the game about what was so good from the youngster on Friday.

“Everything,” the skipper said. “The power – eight strikeouts there, but being real pitch efficient too. Only going 70 [pitches] with him today, so to get into the sixth inning really set us up really nice and then the pen was outstanding.”

In two games to begin the 2026 season, New York has yet to allow a run and has limited the Giants to just four hits and four walks.

First, it was Max Fried and Co. on Opening Day and then it was Schlittler. Will Warren hopes to keep things going on Saturday.

“It felt good,” Schlittler said. “Just being able to work the four-seam, the two-seam, the cutter and kind of incorporating the curveball towards the end there. Throwing a lot of strikes, limiting the walks is very important.”

Throwing strikes kept the 25-year-old in the game long enough to get the win despite his short leash that stemmed from a strained oblique during spring training that set him back some.

While he wished he could have gone further in the game with how things were going, he understands the process that he needs to take.

“Nothing I can do about it, it’s out of my control,” he said. “… Keep building from this week to next week and then hopefully get up to 90 pitches in a couple starts.”

With the Yankees going with a four-man rotation to start the year, Schlittler’s next start figures to be on Wednesday, April 1, against the Seattle Mariners.

SAN FRANCISCO — Expect changes to the Giants’ lineup after the team was shut out for the second straight game to start its season.

Manager Tony Vitello rolled out the same group after San Francisco was blanked in its season opener Wednesday, but after mustering just one hit off Cam Schlittler in a 3-0 loss to the Yankees on Friday, the rookie manager said he plans to shake things up.

“Wednesday’s lineup didn’t have much to show, but we met on it and left it as is,” Vitello said. “There’s a good chance there will be some variance tomorrow based off the numbers and a new pitcher on the mound.”

In two games against Max Fried, Schlittler and the Yankees’ bullpen, the Giants have produced zero runs, four hits, four walks and 19 strikeouts. It’s the first time in the franchise’s 143-year history that it has been blanked in back-to-back games to begin a season.

Surely, they’ll have more luck against Saturday’s starter, Will Warren, regardless of the batting order. Even a sample as minuscule as 59 at-bats (and the accompanying .068 batting average) is bound for some regression to the mean.

“It’s kind of all about sample size. Over and over, we’ve talked about being in this for the long haul,” Vitello said. “I think that’s where our guys’ mindset is. But there’s also a pressing need in there for some feel-good and also to want to perform for the fans.”

Still, it’s far from the output expected after San Francisco added Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader to a lineup that already included Willy Adames, Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers.

Chapman accounted for both of the Giants’ walks in Friday’s loss, while a softly hit double down the right field line from Heliot Ramos amounted to their only extra-base hit in two games.

Adames struck out three times Friday and is hitless in seven at-bats. Devers also earned a hat trick in their latest loss and is 1 for 8. Bader and Arraez have combined to reach base twice in 14 total trips to the plate.

Adames watched a close strike three that scraped the inside corner after Chapman reached on a walk to begin the seventh, trailing 3-0. Rather than use either of the two ABS challenges the Giants had, he walked back to the dugout visibly upset.

“I think that’s one where if he was disappointed in himself, that’s fine,” Vitello said. “If it was frustration out of [the called strike], that was an opportunity where it could’ve been used.”

The Giants have yet to challenge a pitch on offense, despite watching the Yankees do so twice, including an overturned call a few pitches before Aaron Judge deposited a two-run homer halfway up the left field bleachers that broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth.

“I definitely wouldn’t doubt our guys’ efforts, but if you’re trying too hard and things start to move fast on you, maybe you’re a little bit hesitant and you’re not wanting to be the one who makes a mistake,” Vitello said. “I think they’ll settle in and find a little bit more of a comfort zone, but if you analyze the last two days, there were more opportunities to [challenge] than we utilized.”

Effort and emotion were two themes Vitello continued to touch on after the game as he attempted to find answers for the Giants’ woeful start to his tenure in the dugout.

As in: too much of both.

Between Netflix’s Opening Night on Wednesday, the Giants’ traditional season-opening festivities before Friday afternoon’s game and a “fire and brimstone” speech that Vitello gave to the team Tuesday, the manager wondered if emotions were running too high.

“The results, or the numbers, look like there’s not a lot of try-hard,” Vitello said. “But kind of the old baseball adage, there’s probably too much. Maybe that extends to that conversation prior to the season. Or maybe it just stems from all the Opening Day fanfare.”

Robbie Ray, who limited the Yankees to three runners over 5 ⅓ innings besides Judge’s home run and the double from Paul Goldschmidt that preceded it, dismissed that idea.

“We’re all major-league players,” he said. “I think we can handle the ups and downs.”

All the same, Ramos shrugged off the idea of switching up the batting order.

“We’ve just got to get on base,” Ramos said. “We’ve got to execute. … It’s just two games to start the season. We’ve just got to get going.”

Consider it the first true test for the first-year manager, given Vitello at least deployed his bullpen as well as he can while playing from behind. A solo shot from Giancarlo Stanton off Jose Butto amounted to the only run the Giants’ relievers have allowed in 7 ⅔ innings.

The bullpen was considered a question mark. The reinvigorated lineup was supposed to be a strength. That hasn’t been the case, at least through a two-game sample.

“I’d kind of put it on me a little bit,” Vitello said. “Get all fire and brimstone a few days ago. I think some good words were shared. But I also think as of right now, it’s a little emotional in there.”

Detroit Tigers vs. San Diego Padres

Time/Place: 9:40 p.m., Petco Park
SB Nation Site: Gaslamp Ball
Media: Detroit Sportsnet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Framber Valdez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Michael King (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

* Note: Stats in the table below are Fangraphs’ 2026 projections

Following the Yankees' 3-0 win over the Giants on Friday afternoon, manager Aaron Boone and the players spoke about a number of topics, including Camilo Doval's dominant start to the 2026 season.

Camilo Doval dominating to start season

Doval was one of GM Brian Cashman's big acquisitions at last year's trade deadline. He, along with David Bednar, were supposed to shore up the Yankees bullpen for a deep playoff run. Doval, however, struggled in the final months of the 2025 season as a Yankee. Now, a whole offseason with the Yankees behind him, Doval has come out to start the season dominating batters. 

After pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the opener, Doval struck out the side on Friday afternoon.

"Dominant," Boone said of Doval's outing. "The sinker from the side, looked like a split and I thought really good pace and tempo to him filling up the strike zone. That was a dominant 1-2-3 inning of what he can be and what he looks like when he’s rolling. Really excited for that performance, now back-to-back strong outings for him."

After coming over from San Francisco at the deadline, Doval pitched to a 4.82 ERA in 22 appearances in pinstripes. After Friday's win, Doval was asked about how he feels with the team this season.

"It’s like joining a new family. You start adapting to get a good rhythm of how things work out here," Doval said via the team interpreter. "That’s really it. Feeling more comfortable, trying to do my job, really. Focus on the work and it’s going well."

"That’s what he’s capable of," Boone said. "He’s built in really tough on a righty, but he’s capable of getting lefties, too. The sinker was great today, but also landed a couple of sliders in there, cutter in the zone, kinda overmatched them. That’s what he’s capable of when he’s right."

The Yankees hope they are getting the Doval from 2023, when he made his lone All-Star Game as a member of the Giants. That season, he pitched to a 2.93 ERA and picked up a career high 39 saves. 

"We always talk about 2023 and that’s a goal of ours. To be a version of myself from 2023 or better," Doval said. "The mindset is simple. Do your job, put in the work and try to improve as much as you can."

Giancarlo Stanton dialed in

Almost quietly, Stanton is having a good first two games of the season. He picked up two hits in the opener and added another two knocks in Friday's win. One of those hits was a homer that put the Yankees up 3-0. He also narrowly missed another.

It's just a continuation of a pretty good spring for the slugger. In 11 spring games, Stanton smashed four homers and hit .286. 

"Really good ABs. He’s disciplined, develops his plan and goes up there and is executing really well," Boone said of Stanton. "First at-bat where he strikes out, you think, 'yeah he’s got the right plan, the right thought.' Then he hit a pretty good ball to right and then got a wrinkle in the zone that he stuck. Yeah, he’s in a really good place."

Giancarlo Stanton LAUNCHES a solo homer 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kymDN2XzEK

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 27, 2026

Judge and the ABS

One moment flipped the game on its head, which happened via the new ABS challenge system.

With the score tied 0-0 in the sixth inning and Aaron Judge at the plate, Robbie Ray threw a 1-0 slider that looked to be low. It was called a strike by the home plate umpire, as many of those calls have been to Judge in the past.

However, the Yankee Captain tapped his helmet to challenge the call, the first time he's done it in a real game. Judge's knowledge of the zone was correct, which changed the count from 1-1 to a favorable 2-0. And although Ray fought back to work the count full, Judge would launch an inside fastball over the left field wall to give the Yankees a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"I thought it was borderline," Boone said of the pitch Judge challenged. "I knew it was going to probably be close. Obviously, it turned into a real leverage-heavy at-bat for him and he hit a moonshot."

Judge called the process "weird" but said he'll get used to the ABS system, but felt that with Paul Goldschmidt on second, he wanted to make sure he had a better chance to drive him in.

"I’m a hitter, I gotta focus on hitting," Judge said of the challenge. "I’m not going to sit here and challenge every single one that I think is close. But it was a big spot that I think I had a chance to flip the count. I still gotta do my job as a hitter. It takes one pitch. Gotta get one pitch, put a good swing on it and good things can happen." 

After going hitless with four strikeouts in the opener, that challenge helped Judge get the pitch he needed to get his first hit and homer of the season. The reigning AL MVP is now 1-for-9 with six strikeouts to start the season.

The Mariners made their first in-season roster move today, placing RHP Carlos Vargas on the 15-day IL with a lat strain and recalling RHP Cole Wilcox from Tacoma.

In December 2020, the Padres acquired Blake Snell from the Rays in a high-profile trade that sent highly-ranked prospect Luis Patiño, catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt, and 2020 third-rounder righty Cole Wilcox to the Rays in exchange for Snell. The Mariners are now halfway to acquiring all of the players from that trade in some form (Hunt spent time with the organization in 2024 and 2025), acquiring Wilcox—who was the last remaining member of that trade in Tampa Bay’s organization—from the Rays this off-season for cash. For Wilcox, who never threw a professional pitch for San Diego, Tampa Bay was the only organization he’d ever known.

“I’d been with the Rays for so long that it kind of felt like home,” he said this spring. “But I’m always open to a change of scenery…It’s always intimidating, going to a new spot, but there’s a lot of good people here, very friendly, very welcoming. So that made the transition super easy.”

In coming to Seattle, Wilcox had the advantage of meeting a friendly face from day one: fellow pitcher Emerson Hancock, who was Wilcox’s teammate at the University of Georgia, twin 6’5” hurlers who anchored the Bulldogs’ rotation; Wilcox a year behind Hancock, the #2 to Hancock’s #1.

While both Wilcox and Hancock grew up in Georgia, they’re from opposite ends of the state: Hancock’s hometown of Cairo (pronounced “Karo,” like the syrup) is at the very southern edge of Georgia, flat terrain located 45 minutes from Tallahassee. Wilcox grew up in Ringgold, a small town in northeast Georgia nestled in the Appalachians about 20 minutes from Chattanooga (best known to me as where Dolly Parton married Carl Dean in 1966). You can hear the difference in geography in their two accents: Wilcox has the Appalachian accent, twangy with extra y’s and r’s; Hancock’s is a softer drawl.

“I’m from the mountains, he’s a farm boy,” quipped Wilcox, with the good-natured teasing of two people who have known each other for a long time.

Another thing that’s made the transition easier for Wilcox is that the Mariners run their operations very similar to the Rays. Wilcox said the Mariners haven’t asked him to do anything differently, pitching-wise, despite the common perception that the Mariners “overhaul” pitchers when they acquire them.

“It’s the same thing with the Rays,” he said. “Everybody’s like, oh, there’s a ‘magic formula’ or something. But really they just encourage you to compete, which is nice. It makes it simple, and the more you can simplify the game of baseball, just let talent take over and the work take over, it’s a lot easier to play well.”

One of the adjustments Wilcox has had to make is in transitioning to a reliever role, something he started with the Rays, who were hoping to see the stuff tick up after his recovery from TJ surgery in 2021-2022. It was a challenging recovery for Wilcox, whose calling card as a prospect had always been elite velocity.

“I threw pretty hard in college, but ever since the injury, getting that velocity back has been kind of tough. So last year was the first year it kind of came back.”

In the bullpen, the stuff did tick up – maybe more than Wilcox expected.

“I was kind of just like, pedal to the metal, let’s go, let’s do everything,“ he said. “Sometimes it got a little erratic on me…So making that transition, I think it was just getting a feel for that type of intensity. Trying to keep that same intensity, but dialed in, that was the goal this off-season.”

“I just think I was sat on that horse faster than I’m used to, so this off-season, it was good to know my role going into it, knowing what I wanted to do and have something to work towards.”

Even seated firmly on the horse labeled “reliever”, there’s still work to be accomplished on the command front. Wilcox started off the spring strong, but his command slipped a little later in the spring, especially in a game where he was asked to go multiple innings. Like a wild horse, Wilcox’s stuff is difficult to pin down, but majestic in full flight. He has two fastballs, both which come in at an easy 97: a heavy sinker he can use for weak contact and a fastball he’ll try to elevate for whiffs. He pairs that with two hard sliders, a traditional slider and a sweeper.

But rather than focus on refining the pitches individually, Wilcox is focused on big-picture goals, the same things we hear from any member of the Mariners pitching staff: controlling the controllables, getting ahead, getting to two strikes, and putting hitters away. There’s a time and a place for things like changing pitch grips or making mechanical adjustments, Wilcox says, but it’s important not to get lost in those and potentially lose sight of the mission when standing on the mound.

“The simplest cues are the ones that are going to translate the most. You don’t want to make it more complex than it is.”

Wilcox has already had a complex journey to the big leagues – starting with the cancellation of his college season in 2020, a truncated draft year, a trade, a major injury, and a role shift, all before he’s thrown more than one (1) professional inning. Thankfully, he has someone by his side who understands a complex big-league journey in Emerson Hancock, who went through the same early-career challenges of the COVID year, his own injury, and a similar transition to the bullpen. Hancock may have only been a year ahead of Wilcox at Georgia, but his admiration for his fellow pitcher is obvious.

“I know Emerson really well,” Wilcox said. “Since college, he hasn’t changed at all. Super hard worker, super good person, super good leader…for a lot of places around the league, he’s in the rotation, and he just happens to be probably in the best rotation in baseball. But he’s never, ever complained through the whole process. He’s always positive, never negative about anything he’s gone through, any adjustments that he’s made. [At Georgia] we called him The Mayor. He’s a guy you’re just drawn to, with his positive energy.”

Wilcox is once again one of Hancock’s constituents, the two sharing a big-league bullpen now rather than a collegiate dugout. Hopefully he’ll stick around long enough to earn a nickname of his own – maybe the Marshal to Hancock’s mayor, given his affinity for horse metaphors.

The Dodgers look to make it a 2-0 start to the 2026 season as they host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. The Dodgers will be presented with their 2025 World Series rings prior to first pitch (6:20 p.m. PT).

Emmet Sheehan makes his first start of the season against right-hander Ryne Nelson.

Alex Freeland makes his season debut, batting ninth and starting at second base.

FRIDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out-of-market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw is now retired after 18 seasons pitching for the Dodgers, but 2026 thus far has felt a little like the others. He was part of the NBC pregame show on opening day Thursday, and offered insights during the game broadcast while sitting next to the third base dugout.

“I don’t feel like retirement has really, really started yet,” Kershaw said Friday at Dodger Stadium. “Now that the season started, and I’m going to go home, next week will probably feel like a normal retirement week.”

First comes the ring ceremony on Friday night, during which he will receive his third championship ring.

“For me, it’s just a great ending to my career,” Kershaw said. “I couldn’t have scripted it any better.”

His connection to the Dodgers remains, as he joined the team as a special assistant, which was first reported by Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic.

“I think I’ll be involved somehow. I think I’ll be involved, probably not physically here in LA, but I’m sure I’ll watch games,” Kershaw said on Friday. “I still want to be a part of the Dodgers. So if I can help in some small piece, I will.”

Kershaw will continue doing studio work and an occasional game work for NBC this season, though he told Jack Harris of the California Post that his TV schedule will be light.

After throwing during spring to prepare for the World Baseball Classic, Kershaw did not pitch while active for Team USA. Now, he’s focused on his post-playing days.

“There’s a freedom to retirement. If you don’t want to workout, you don’t have to. If you’re back hurts, it doesn’t matter. If you’re arm hurts, it doesn’t matter,” Kershaw said. “You get to see a lot more stuff, and be around for everything. There’s a lot of great parts. It doesn’t take away from how special this game is, but there’s a lot really awesome about being home and being done.”

I guess we can’t call it Dodger Stadium any more, since the team has sold the naming rights. It is now officially known as Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium. What is a Uniqlo anyway? I’m glad you asked. It’s a Japanese clothing designer and retailer, and they just paid more than $125 million for the five-year deal. Just another way in which the rich get richer. That’s almost twice as much as the D-backs got for their naming rights, to what was then Bank One, and became Chase Field after the takeover. Oh, yeah: and that $66 million was for a thirty-year period. On a per-year basis, it’s less than one-tenth of the Dodgers’ income. Basically, their rights pay for Freddie Freeman. Ours pay for Pavin Smith. And speaking of whom…

If that happens, it’ll be interesting to see how the team replaces him. There is only one available position player on the 40-man roster. Jose Fernandez, and it is perhaps of note that he is not in the starting line-up for the Reno Aces this evening. He performed very well in spring training, but there are a few possible issues. He’s right-handed, unlike lefty Smith. Fernandez has almost no professional experience at first (less than 140 innings). And he hasn’t played above Double-A. If he’s going to be purely used as a DH, then that would mitigate the issue. But it again illustrates the difference between us and LA. Their DH tonight? The guy who is on a $700 million contract.

However, there was also this:

And it appears that must have gone well, because the D-backs subsequently changed their line-up. It was otherwise going to be identical to last night, bar the starting pitcher obviously. But you know Torey wasn’t going to start running out the same batting order two games in the row. 🙂 So Smith is in, replacing Tim Tawa at DH.

Tonight, we see Ryne Nelson, the player who was the SnakePit’s overwhelming choice for Opening Day starter. After last night, and Zac Gallen’s underwhelming fifth inning, we can perhaps be forgiven for saying, “See? Told you so.” Though more circumspect readers will probably want to wait until after tonight. Not that it makes much difference who is #1 and #2. They both would end up facing the Dodgers. Though Nelson has an excellent record (small sample size) in Dodg… er, I mean Uniqlo Field. He has allowed just two runs over fifteen innings of work. Might need to be on that level of form if Arizona is to prevail tonight, going by last night’s offensive showing. But hey, at least we have scored, eh, San Francisco?

Detroit Tigers (1-0) at San Diego Padres (0-1), March 27, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!

Shane Baz is staying in Baltimore.

The talented right-hander, who was acquired by the Orioles this offseason after a lengthy stint with the Rays, has agreed to a five-year extension that will keep him in Baltimore through at least the 2030 season.

The Post’s Joel Sherman confirmed the deal is worth $68 million.

“This agreement with Shane continues our drive to build a championship-caliber roster. We thank Shane for his commitment to Baltimore, the Orioles and our great fans,” team owner David Rubenstein said in a statement. “Thanks also to Mike Elias and the baseball operations group for helping to keep Shane as an Oriole for years to come.”

Baz, who wasn’t scheduled to hit free agency until after the 2028 season, had two more years of arbitration eligibility, which will be foregone with the new extension.

The extension is the largest given to a pitcher in Orioles history.

“We were ecstatic to acquire a pitcher of Shane’s talent during the offseason and are thrilled we could come to a long-term agreement to keep him in Baltimore,” president of baseball operations Mike Elias said in a statement, also reported by MLB.com. “Our ownership group, led by David Rubenstein, continues to provide our organization with support and resources as we pursue consistent success on the field.”

Baz, 26, was traded from Tampa on December 19, 2025, in exchange for prospects Austin Overn, Caden Bodine, Slater de Brun and Michael Forret, as well as a draft pick in the Competitive Balance Round A section of this year’s MLB draft.

Baz had a 4.87 ERA last season across 31 starts.

The righty, who has made 54 career starts, has a career 4.25 ERA with 293 strikeouts through 286 innings.

On Thursday night, the now-retired Clayton Kershaw began one new job, making his broadcast debut during NBC’s telecast of the Dodgers’ Opening Day win over the Diamondbacks.

On Friday afternoon, the future Hall of Famer announced another new –– albeit undefined –– gig that will keep him tied to the Dodgers moving forward, too.

Kershaw is set to be a special assistant to the Dodgers’ front office, telling reporters that he will “be involved somehow” with the team he spent all 18 years of his MLB playing career.

“Probably not physically here in LA,” Kershaw said. “But definitely, I’m sure I’ll watch games. I still want to be a part of the Dodgers. So if I can help in some small piece, I will.”

The news came as little surprise, given Kershaw’s deep ties to the club and the fact that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had been openly wooing him to take some sort of post-playing-career role with the organization.

“Kersh, in case you’re listening,” Friedman said during an appearance on the “Dodgers Territory” podcast earlier this winter, “come work with us.”

While Kershaw has also joined NBC’s broadcast team –– in the network’s first year of televising regular-season MLB games in more than a quarter-century –– he is scheduled to work a light TV schedule.

On Thursday, he joined Bob Costas on NBC’s pregame show, then sat field-side during the Dodgers’ 8-2 season-opening victory over the Diamondbacks; earning rave reviews from viewers about his in-game insights.

“It’s just talking baseball,” Kershaw joked. “So if people want to hear me talk about baseball, I can do that all day. I love baseball.”

However, Kershaw’s next appearance on an NBC game, he said, won’t come until August. He will be featured on the network’s pregame shows, but his schedule for that will reportedly depend on availability.

“I would say it’s pretty part time,” Kershaw said. “You won’t see me too much on TV.”

That’s the kind of flexibility Kershaw wanted out of retirement, of course. At the end of last year, the father of five quipped he was going on a “no-plan plan” after concluding his career with a third World Series championship with the Dodgers, content to return to his home in Texas and spend time with his wife and kids.

“There’s a freedom with retirement,” he said. “If you don’t want to work out, you don’t have to. If your back hurts, it doesn’t matter. If your arm hurts, it doesn’t matter. You get to see a lot more stuff, be around for everything. So there’s a lot of great parts. It doesn’t take away from how special playing this game is, but there’s a lot of really awesome parts about being home.”

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Kershaw suited up one more time for this month’s World Baseball Classic, joining Team USA after being unable to participate in the event in 2023. But, he did not pitch in an official tournament game, and –– despite carrying a bat with him on the Dodger Stadium field Friday afternoon –– confirmed he’s had no regrets about walking away from the game at age 38.

“I have no interest in playing,” he said with a laugh. “But I like being around everybody. So it’s fun.”

Now, Kershaw will maintain some presence with Dodgers personnel, joining a group of other special assistants that includes former Dodger Chase Utley and former Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.

Kershaw reiterated he has no desire to be a coach in the future but said he’ll watch the team from afar over the season.

“I really don’t know much more after that,” he said. “We’ll see.”

On Friday, more of his focus was on that night’s pregame ring ceremony, in which he would share the field with his former Dodgers teammates one more time.

“Anytime you get to celebrate one more time with your teammates, it’s pretty special,” Kershaw said. “I know they gotta move on to this season, but I don’t have to. So I’m just gonna keep relishing it. It’ll be great.”

I will admit that I’m still feeling a little euphoric after the St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day come from behind victory, but as I continue to dwell on what just happened, I believe it was more than just a great game. Yesterday proved that when they fill the stands, St. Louis Cardinals fans can bring the team an advantage that few MLB fanbases can compete with.

For the record, I’ve never applied the “best fans in baseball” moniker to the St. Louis Cardinals fanbase. That’s a subjective thing that feels like a marketing term and not a label we need to walk around bragging about, but Thursday’s Opening Day proved that when truly engaged, there are few atmospheres that can rival Busch Stadium. Oli Marmol said in his post-game press conference that the charged atmosphere of the crowd truly impacted how the team rose to the occasion. He was asked if the atmosphere felt different. Oli said “Yeah, it was packed. Yes, it felt different. That’s what you feed off of. I really do believe this group, regardless of situation, they’re going to play in a way where it’s exciting to watch them every inning and they’re not going to give in to a whole lot. I’m glad we were able to show that today.”

Earlier this week, I mentioned that the 2026 season was going to reveal a lot about who the real St. Louis Cardinals fans are. I was pleasantly surprised how packed the stands were. If you compare Opening Day this year compared to last, the energy in the seats this year was exponentially better than the start of last season. The ovation for President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom during the introductions was interesting. Do you think Cardinals Nation understands this isn’t the same old team and that big changes had to happen? Absolutely. Even when the Cardinals went down 6 runs in the top of the 6th inning, I didn’t see anyone start heading for the exits to get a jump on the drive home. Alec Burleson said after the game that the crowd’s energy was as much a part of that victory as what the team did on the field. He said “whenever we can get the crowd into it, that’s what we want to do. Kudos to the fans for showing up. Obviously it’s Opening Day, but we want to encourage them…we’re gonna continue to play this way whether we win or lose”.

I want to avoid overreacting to one game because that’s really all this is in the win-loss column, but I do think Opening Day might be a turning point when it comes to the state of the St. Louis Cardinals fans mindset. I haven’t seen Busch Stadium as charged as it was yesterday since at least the first playoff game against the Phillies in early October 2022. Over the next few weeks, we’ll learn if this was a one-off adrenaline rush or if the St. Louis Cardinals faithful will continue to fill the seats and help energize this team. Thursday was a reminder that Busch Stadium can still be a very special place to play. It’s part of what made Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt want to come play here and it could play a big role in inspiring future free agents to give St. Louis consideration. St. Louis Cardinals fans can truly be an X factor and it feels to me that they’ll keep showing up beyond Opening Day. Or, at least I hope so.