MLB Baseball Begins This Weekend

It might not feel like it just yet (especially here in the Northeast), but Spring has officially sprung and baseball's regular season is just a few days away.

Major League Baseball seems to do things a bit differently every year, and this year is no different. In years past, league play would open with a slate of games on the first Monday of the season. More recently, the season would begin with a Sunday Night Baseball game on ESPN that would count (while other teams were still playing exhibition games during the day on that same Sunday), while in other years the baseball season has begun with real games being played overseas.

This year, there are three games on tap for Opening Day Sunday., April 2, 2017:

• Yankees @ Rays 1:10
• Giants @ D-backs 4:10
• Cubs @ Cardinals 8:35

Then, the remaining 24 teams will open their regular seasons on Monday. That  includes the Mets who will play host to the division rival Braves, set for a 1:10 start, weather permitting of course.

For a variety of reasons, the pre-season isn't much of a indicator of how a team will perform during the season - the number of teams you play is limited, the amount of time 'starters' play is also restricted, and don't forget this year saw some of the best players in the sport playing that meaningful/meaningless World Baseball Classic. But, if you care to keep track, as of this posting the Yankees are leading the American League with a 22-7 record. The Mets are middle of the pack in the National League at 14-16.