The 2010 Season Begins vs Texas

Shaun Marcum will be facing off against Scott Feldman and the Texas Rangers Monday afternoon to kick off the 2010 season in Arlington, Texas. It’s the first time since 2002 that someone other than Roy Halladay gets the opening day gig. Marcum is more than up to the task and has stated that he feels honoured to be the opening day starter. He’ll be facing one great lineup in Texas who just added Vladimir “I have no strike zone” Guerrero and have a more seasoned Elvis Andrus at SS. If the Jays offensive force can continue to build on what was one great offensive showing this spring, the Jays will definitely test Feldman and the Rangers during this series.

What to Expect

Lot’s of change ups from Marcum, as he wants to keep the hitters off balance as much as possible. The Jays should be able to win 2 of 3 in Texas if they can get to the pen early, so working the pitch counts will be a priority for Jays hitters. Texas still has a weak pen and tends to lose many of its games in the late innings. Whatever the case, the scores should be fairly high, as Arlington does tend to play small and allows for more runs to be scored. Tallet will follow him up against Rich Harden on Wednesday (night game), and Ricky Romero will face CJ Wilson on Thursday (day game).

Who to Watch

Jose Bautista, Vernon Wells, and Travis Snider all hold the keys to success early on in 2010. If 2 of these 3 can be hot on any given day, the Jays have a real shot at having a very good April and May. So watch for these 3 as the year opens and where they’re hitting in the lineup. If Bautista has issues, he could be replaced by McCoy. If Wells has issues, he could move down in the order. And if Snider has issues and Jeremy Reed is hot in AAA, he could be sent down once again. If each begins the year at a decent or above average level, they’ll remain where they started, except for Snider who could get moved up in the order.

The predictions for the 2010 season of all Fansided staff is currently being put together. As soon as I have a link to this information, I’ll pass it along with mine spread out and explained on this site.

The Orioles will be next up.

Extra-curricular information:

• The majority of Fansided staff put in their brackets for the NCAA March Madness tournament and Jays Journal has a real chance of winning the challenge. If Duke wins the championship game, JJ wins it! Not bad for a baseball, football, and hockey guy! I do follow it slightly, but not as closely as some people I know. All I have to say is thank you Butler for proving me right!
• I’ll go through my fantasy favorites for breakouts in 2010 later on this week, so watch for it on Wednesday.