From the Vanderbilt athletics website:

Commodores on opening day rosters include:

Walker Buehler (L.A. Dodgers)

Curt Casali (Cincinnati)

Sonny Gray (Cincinnati)

Tony Kemp (Oakland)

Mike Minor (Texas)

Bryan Reynolds (Pittsburgh)

Dansby Swanson (Atlanta)

Kyle Wright (Atlanta)

Mike Yastrzemski (San Francisco)

Game 1: New York Yankees vs. Washington Nationals—6pm CT ESPN

No Vanderbilt connection here (short of the plethora of Vanderbilt alums who root for these teams, and the “kindred spirits connection” of the Nats being defending MLB champions whilst our Diamond Dores are defending NCAA Champions), but it’s Gerrit Cole vs. Max Scherzer on the mound. That’s appointment viewing, ladies.

Unfortunately, Washington will be down one of their young stars. You can easily guess the reason.

*Side note: The AL East and NL East are both absolutely loaded this year. This is normal for both divisions (especially the AL East), but with MLB trying to limit travel this season due to the pandemic, these two beasts of divisions will be exclusively playing each other during the entirety of the regular season. Expect even the best teams’ records to be affected, and a 35-25 record might take the division. The Marlins and Orioles may not win a game, save for when they are playing each other.

Game 2 (Featured Game): San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers—9pm CT ESPN

On the mound, we’ve got Johnny Cueto vs. Clayton Kershaw. We all wanted Walker “The Iron Man” Buehler to get the Opening Day nod, but it was not to be. In fact, it looks like he’ll be the Day 5 starter, for reasons that have nothing to do with his pitching ability. Safe to say the Dodgers will be favored on days when Buehler, a no doubt ace, faces the other team’s weakest starter. Bet accordingly.

With David Price opting out of the 2020 season due to health and family concerns, and Buehler not on the mound, Vandy Import gets the joy of having all of us root for his garlic-fry-breath Giants tonight, as Yaz will likely be in the starting lineup and Antoan Richardson will be coaching first (and thinking he could have swiped 2nd on every pitch). Sam “Crazy Legs” Selman was reassigned to the minors, though I expect him to find his way into a MLB bullpen at some point this year.

*Side note: Pay close attention to the amount of pine tar used by San Francisco hitters, as their bats may be more slippery than they are used to if new manager Gape Kapler has handled them.

See you in the comments!