MLB winners and losers: Top prospects and Japanese sluggers shine opening weekend ~ NEO JRNL

Five days to play three games across a seemingly endless sea of streamers and networks isn't exactly the way baseball was meant to be staged.

But you made it. AndMajor League Baseball's lovable slog should get more recognizable after this seemingly eternal opening weekend.

And while the sample produced was still remarkably small, there were still a few cogent data points, many of them apparently giving signal rather than noise.

With that, USA TODAY Sports takes a look at the winners and losers of opening weekend, with another week's worth of oversized flags and home openers upon us already:

Winners

The youth brigade

And to think No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin's ticket to the minor leagues might have dimmed thestart of the season for prospect heads.

Nope, the kids showed out beyond anyone's wildest dreams right from the first pitches on Thursday – such as the oneKevin McGonigle smoked for a doubleseconds into his major league career, part of a four-hit debut for the Detroit Tigers.

Kevvy Mac (someone has to come up with a nickname, right?) added another hit and two more RBIs in his second game, starting at both third base and shortstop. An incredibly valuable piece already for the pennant-chasing Tigers.

And while he might make the most impact on the pennant race and, maybe, the playoffs, he was arguably not the most spectacular performer at their beautillion ball.

The dynamic JJ Wetherholt homered in his debut and notched a two-run walk-off hit in his second game and got another knock in his third as the rebuilding Cardinals took a series from Tampa Bay. The Mets' Carson Benge homered on the first pitch he saw of his MLB debut.

And while Chase DeLauter technically got his feet wet with a wild card series cameo in 2025, he scorched four homers and broke up a no-hitter in his first four games for Cleveland. Same with Owen Caissie, who enjoyed a cortado-length stay with the Cubs last summer, got traded to the Marlins and hit a walk-off two-run homer to sweep the Rockies in his Miami debut.

Konnor's gonna have to play catch-up.

JJ Wetherholt gets doused after his walk-off hit agains the Rays.

A Yankees-Blue Jays pennant race repeat

The death of the tiebreaker game can take some shine off a great divisional race. So it was last year when the Blue Jays and Yankees each won 94 games and Toronto won the division based on head-to-head record.

With the Blue Jays significantly altered yet also nursing a World Series hangover and the Yankees in apparent danger of run-it-back syndrome, it was unclear how the AL East beasts might break from the gate in 2026.

Turns out they missed nary a beat.

Both clubs registered convincing sweeps against decent but unproven opponents, as the Blue Jays got leadoff homers and walk-off hits and 21 combined punchouts from Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease to sweep the A's.

The Yankees, meanwhile, were in run-prevention mode in San Francisco, where the Giants are typically cooperative in such matters. Oh, Aaron Judge pounded a couple more home runs and Cam Schlittler looks very much like theplayoff beast he was last year. Yeah – they'll be fine 'til Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole step back on the scene.

The Pirates, trying to win

Sometimes, fans and media alike can get a little too caught up in off-season transactions. Yet for Pittsburgh Pirates fans, screaming at management to "Do Anything" winter after winter almost always fell on deaf ears.

Finally, the Pirates did something this winter. And lo and behold, the product appears healthier!

Offseason trade acquisition Brandon Lowe pounded a pair of home runs in their opening series against a very good Mets team. Free agent signee Ryan O'Hearn – no, not a Kyle Schwarber splash but a very good acquisition – had three hits and drove in the winning run in the 10thinning as they salvaged the final game of three.

Pittsburgh took New York to extra innings in Game 2, too, with Oneil Cruz's sun-splashed outfield debacle the only element making them non-competitive all weekend. Not to say they can stay with the Brewers and Cubs all summer.

But trying really is a lot more fun.

Japanese sluggers

They were the highest-profile hitters coming from foreign lands this winter, yet Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami's combined value of their contracts didn't even reach $100 million. Contact concerns, and the worry that power in Japan would transfer to the big leagues.

Well, guess who's trailing only DeLauter in major league home runs?

Murakami went deep thrice in Milwaukee, the bright spot in a Chicago White Sox sweep at the hands of the Brewers. Meanwhile, Okamoto had four hits in 12 at-bats, homered himself and posted a .429 OBP in his first three games for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Not a total endorsement just yet of the $60 million Toronto committed to Okamoto or the $34 million the White Sox are paying Murakami. Yet it's a nice bit of relief for a pair of teams who rolled the dice and enjoyed positive first looks.

(Salaries in present-day value calculated by MLB Labor Relations Department, impacted by deferrals and signing bonuses)

1. Juan Soto, Mets - $61,875,000