Game 1 Thread: March 28 vs. D'backs, 1p

Does that bunting look jagged to you, too?

Zack Greinke vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu.

All right, we're back.

After a second straight offseason spent licking our deep wounds after another heartbreaking World Series loss, the Dodgers are back to start a new season, with largely the same cast of characters, just a little bit older now. Oh yeah, and this time, there's no Manny Machado to saunter his way up the first base line on an infield grounder; no, we have Corey Seager back, after a preseason batting .182 across five games. And Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp are gone, too; with our outfield regimen now welcoming Bryce Harper A.J. Pollock, who batted .286 this spring with three HR. And finally, Yasmani Grandal--whose 9 passed balls last year fell one short of what would have been his second consecutive year with the league PB title--won't be allowing through balls behind the plate for the Dodgers this season (good luck with that, Milwuakee!), thanks to our exhumation of Russell Martin from an old-folks home (dome?) in Toronto.

Not to mention Clayton Kershaw isn't ready, Rich Hill has a MCL strain, and Kenley Jansen needs to recover from a tough 2018.

So why wouldn't we be psyched for Opening Day 2019? The fourth-place power-ranked Dodgers are the team most predicted by ESPN pundits to win the NL West, not to mention the National League, before succumbing to the Astros again in the 2019 World Series.

At the very least, the sun will be shining, the flyover will be magnificent, and once again, SoSG Sax will be in the house for Opening Day.

The 2019 campaign starts now, injuries and uncertain pieces notwithstanding. Let's go, Dodgers!

(P.S. This post may serve as the series thread, depending on how sober I am Thursday evening.)