Welcome to the first edition of  The Lineup: Pregame, a weekday newsletter that will get you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s slate of games, while catching you up on the most fun stories you might have missed. Like that midafternoon cup of coffee you need to power through the rest of the day, we’re here to perk you up with a dose of baseball to help you make it to a night of, well, more baseball. Thanks for being here.

If you googled the word “torpedo” before yesterday, you probably weren’t shocked by the rabbit hole it took you down (naval websites, submarine explainers, the IMDB page for a 2019 movie with 5.9 stars and the tagline Deep dive to survive). Try searching it now and you’ll find almost exclusively content about the Yankees and the oddly shaped bats some of their players were using over the weekend while they went about hitting 15 homers and scoring 36 runs over their first three games (a total surpassed by only two teams since 1900). 

It’s safe to say this is not the last you’ll be hearing of the torpedo bat, because while the Yankees’ Opening Weekend barrage may have brought the lumber into the national spotlight, other players and teams have tested them out to a bit less fanfare, and more are sure to follow. Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero used one on an infield hit (which we realize is not nearly as sexy as Jazz Chisholm Jr. blasting two homers and euro-stepping his way to home plate), as well as Francisco Lindor and Adley Rutschman, who homered twice on Opening Day with a modified version of the torpedo. ESPN’s Buster Olney reported in real time on the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast that the Braves had put in an order for the bats, an order that cannot be filled soon enough for a team that is 0-4 and starting a series tonight (10 p.m. ET on MLB.TV) against … the Dodgers. 

Which brings us to our next takeaway from the weekend: Those juggernaut, non-torpedo-using (so far!) Dodgers, who neatly swept the Tigers and look every bit as good as everybody thought they would before they jetted off to Tokyo two weeks ago. Of course their hot start has inspired some instant overreactions – 162-0 is still in play, after all! Or the slightly more realistic possibility that they could break the single-season record of 116 wins, though even that, as MLB.com’s Mike Petriello laid out, doesn’t seem terribly likely. They are the fourth defending champion to start a season 5-0 or better, and the three other teams (1985 Tigers, 1934 Giants, 1933 Yankees) did not even make the playoffs! That’s probably not happening to these Dodgers, of course, but it is a good reminder that there are 157 games to go.

Otherwise you might end up believing every one of the Marlins’ wins will come via walk-off (their first three did, a feat not seen in 22 years), or that Players of the Week Eugenio Suárez and Aaron Judge will hit 162 homers, or Antonio Senzatela will never allow a run no matter how many hits he allows, or … you get the idea. 

One last thing to chew on before we get to everything you’ll want to tune in for tonight. Baseball players are constantly chomping on something during games (sunflower seeds, bubblegum, etc.), but Willson Contreras making a meal of his batting tape Saturday had to be a first. Contreras, you’ll be shocked to know, said it did not taste very good. Hopefully he avoided any tapeworms. 

-- Scott Chiusano

• Cubs @ Athletics (10:05 p.m. ET, FREE on MLB.TV): Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park makes its big league debut, and the extensive renovations and upgrades to make it Major League-ready will be on full display. For A’s players getting accustomed to their new digs, it already “feels homey.” 

• Guardians @ Padres (9:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Left-hander Kyle Hart will be making his first start in the Majors since 2020, which means he has never pitched in a big league stadium in front of fans. There are only 23 other players whose entire Major League career consists of only games during the 2020 season, and they’ve come to be known as “The Lost Boys” in certain circles. Hart is the first, and could quite possibly be the only, one to make it back to The Show. His journey has taken him from bouncing around the Minors to Korea last season to the final spot in the Padres’ rotation, and the fans at Petco Park will certainly greet him with a warm welcome, one he’s been waiting five years for. 

• Tigers @ Mariners (9:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Detroit’s No. 1 prospect (and No. 5 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list) Jackson Jobe gets his first Major League start after making his big league debut in relief last September and then giving the Tigers some important innings during their magical playoff run. The 22-year-old’s arsenal of a half-dozen different pitches is headlined by upper-90s heat.

Make sure you can watch all these games and more as the first full week of the season kicks off by subscribing to MLB.TV. Watch every out-of-market game LIVE or on demand. Plus, stream MLB Network 24/7 (U.S. only), live MiLB games, MLB Big Inning and live audio for all MLB teams.

• MLB.com’s Scott Merkin introduces us to The Sodfather, a nickname not given lightly to the White Sox head groundskeeper since 1983. Roger Bossard has seen it all, including the infamous Disco Demolition Night, but he said Sunday’s hail/rain/wind storm in Chicago was unlike any he’s dealt with. The Sodfather told crew chief Alan Porter of being able to get the game in: “‘I’m not sure this time.’ I’m usually quite positive on that stuff. But [we do] what we have to do, and I called MLB and told them, ‘I need a shot. Give me my chance.’” It was an offer they could not refuse. 

• Last season, D-backs pitcher Ryne Nelson told his manager that if ever given an opportunity to step up to the plate, he’d “hit a missile somewhere.” MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert has the story of how Nelson delivered on that promise as part of an 8-run rally yesterday. It was the first base knock by a pitcher since the universal DH was instituted for the 2022 season, and it came in Nelson’s first career at-bat.

• A few hours after Jeff Conine (aka Mr. Marlin) was inducted into the Marlins Hall of Fame, Mr. Marlin Jr. (aka Griffin Conine) hit a clutch game-tying homer. It was an emotional moment and day for father and son, and MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola has the full story. 

It's gotta be the ... shoes? While Chisholm swatted three homers wielding the aforementioned uniquely barreled torpedo bat, Aaron Judge, who belted four homers, was notably torpedo-free: "What I’ve done the past couple of seasons," Judge mused, "speaks for itself.”

Though they did not use the same bat, Jazz and Judge had something else in common: Both opted for custom cleats in the style of the classic Air Jordan 1. Chisholm's cleats tend to trend flashier; these ice cream-themed models made a splash a couple years ago, and he's known to get very hands on with the design process. Judge, who followed Jazz as a Jordan Brand athlete in 2023, generally opts for more conventional color blocking.

Can you guess today’s mystery player using clues like age, league, division, position and place of birth? You’ll have nine tries to get it right. Good luck! Play here >>

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