Opening Weekend takeaways: Dodgers, AL East look dominant, Mets look shaky and the rookies look impressive

The first weekend of the 2026 MLB season is in the books and your favorite team either looks destined to win the World Series or they’re doomed to disappoint. First impressions are a real thing, though they don’t mean much in this sport, and what you see in March certainly has no bearing on what you’ll see in July, August, September, and most importantly October.

With that in mind, here now are eight takeaways from the season’s first weekend. 

1. ABS is here

The first weekend of the ABS challenge system was a rousing success. Well, a rousing success for everyone but C.B. Bucknor and Derek Shelton. Through 47 total games, there have been 175 ABS challenges, or an average of 3.7 per game. That’s lower than I expected — it was 4.5 per game in spring training and about four per game in Triple-A last year. Perhaps that number will tick up as players get familiar with it.

Here’s the breakdown of those 175 challenges:

“Fielders” includes both pitchers and catchers, though catchers have called for almost all of those challenges. There have been only a handful of pitcher challenges. Catchers had the highest success rate in Triple-A last year, which makes sense given their vantage point. That success has carried over into MLB. Catchers are great challengers. Hitters (and pitchers) not so much.

Here are two examples of how ABS challenges can really impact a game. On Friday, Aaron Judge challenged a 1-0 pitch with a runner on second and no outs. The 1-1 count was overturned into a hitter-friendly 2-0 count, then Judge hit a two-run homer that gave the Yankees all the runs they’d need that afternoon.

“It’s weird. It’s a new part of the game,” Judge told MLB.com after the game. “You’ve just got to get used to it. I’m a hitter. I’ve got to focus on hitting. I’m not going to try to challenge every single one I think is close, but if there’s a big spot where I think I’ve got a chance to flip the count, I’m going to do it.”  

On Sunday, the Angels did not challenge a 2-2 pitch to Isaac Paredes with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning of a tie game. Statcast indicates the pitch nicked the zone, but neither pitcher Drew Pomeranz nor catcher Logan O’Hoppe challenged. Paredes ripped the very next pitch for a go-ahead two-run double that won the game.

“It’s tough to look back and say, alright, ‘Let’s take a chance here,'” O’Hoppe told the Orange County Register. “Honestly, when I caught the pitch, I didn’t even think there was a chance. So that’s why I didn’t bother.”  

Over the long haul 162-game season, ABS challenges may be one of those things that even out, and every team’s success rate is right around 50%. In one specific spot though, a successful challenge can swing a game. It feels like there’s been a feeling out process and teams are still figuring out how and when they want to use their challenges.

Perhaps the coolest part so far is the fan reaction. ABS challenges are shown on the scoreboard, so the crowd pops when one of their guys gets a challenge right, and mock cheers the opposing team when they botch one. Perhaps that reaction will fade as ABS starts to blend into the background. Right now though, ABS challenges are an event.

2. The rookie class is delivering

We’ve seen some truly great rookie classes in recent years. Go back just two years and the National League Rookie of the Year voting went Paul Skenes, Jackson Merrill, Jackson Chourio. This year’s rookie class has a chance to be even better than that, and maybe one of the best ever. From Day 1, all the top prospects (and some lesser prospects) have lived up to the hype.

The early season rookie star has been Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle, the No. 1 prospect in baseball. McGonigle went 4 for 5 on Opening Day and became just the 25th player in history with four hits in his MLB debut. The next day, he worked a 10-pitch at-bat with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning of a tie game, and laced a go-ahead two-run single.

“Knew (lefty reliever Wandy Peralta) was going to come in against me,” McGonigle told MLB.com after the game. “I saw every pitch he had (when I faced him on Opening Day), which helped me out. He throws left-on-left changeups a good bit. I knew I had to put a good at-bat together to help this team today, and thankfully I did.”

Elsewhere, Mets right fielder Carson Benge went deep on Opening Day. Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt hit a home run on Opening Day and a walk-off single in Game 2. Guardians right fielder Chase DeLauter has four homers in four games. Reds first baseman Sal Stewart is 7 for 10 with three doubles, a homer, three walks, and no strikeouts. Marlins right fielder Owen Caissie hit a walk-off homer Sunday.

There’s also Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto, two Japanese veterans who nonetheless qualify as MLB rookies. Murakami is the first player in White Sox history to hit a home run in each of his first three career games. Okamoto is 4 for 12 with a home run for the Blue Jays. Almost to a man, this year’s rookie class has hit the ground running.

3. The Dodgers are inevitable

The Dodgers spotted the Diamondbacks a two-run lead in all three games this weekend, yet came back to win all three. The two-time defending World Series champions are 3-0 while the rest of the NL West is 1-11, and they’ve shown off their new toys. Kyle Tucker is only 2 for 11 at the plate so far, though he’s already made several standout defensive plays in right field.

New closer Edwin Díaz is 2 for 2 in save chances and, for at least one weekend, the Dodgers had a live trumpet performance for his entrance song “Narco.”

Shohei Ohtani has a .462 on-base percentage. Mookie Betts hit an ultra-rare (for him) opposite-field home run. Will Smith has two homers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow both dominated in their starts. The bullpen, which was such a headache last season, has provided 11 ⅔ scoreless innings in three games. Everything’s coming up Dodgers.

The Dodgers (probably) won’t win a record number of games this season because there is no incentive to do so. Their goal is to win one more game than is necessary to secure a postseason berth, even if it means playing in the Wild Card Series like last year. This is a team that always has the big picture in mind. The Dodgers’ first meaningful game is six months away.

4. Tony Vitello’s learning curve

New Giants manager Tony Vitello is still seeking his first MLB win. His Giants were swept at home by the Yankees over the weekend and were held to one run in the three games. They started the season with a franchise-record 20-inning scoreless streak. Vitello took the blame for the scoreless streak and said a “fire and brimstone” speech earlier this week may have backfired.

“I’d kind of put it on me a little bit,” Vitello said Friday. “I got all fire and brimstone a few days ago, and I think some good words were shared, but I also think, as of right now, it’s a little emotional in there, and there are a lot of try-hards. Maybe it stems from that conversation prior to the season or maybe it stems from all the Opening Day fanfare, being the home team, but regardless, everybody wants it to change.” 

Vitello, formerly the head coach at the University of Tennessee, is the first person ever to jump from college to an MLB managerial job without any professional playing or coaching experience. Based on the “fire and brimstone” speech backfiring, he seems to be learning the hard way that coaching impressionable college kids is not the same as managing grown men in the big leagues.

Ultimately, three games do not make a season or a managerial career. The Giants are projected to be a .500-ish team for the fifth straight season and that .500-ish team got swept by a contender. It happens all the time. But when it happens on opening weekend, it becomes a Very Big Deal. Vitello will (probably) figure things out. It still may not be enough to save the Giants from a .500-ish fate.

5. The Mets have some things to work on defensively

It’s at least a little funny Mets POBO David Stearns said improving the infield defense was a priority at the outset of the offseason, then signed Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco to play out of position. Bichette is at third base, a position he’d never played previously as a professional. Polanco is at first base, where his previous experience was standing there for one batter in 2025.

Both have had issues. Bichette has already made several off-line throws that pulled Polanco off the bag. Polanco’s bobbled a few ground balls. Polanco recovered to convert a few of those misplays into outs, so it hasn’t been a total disaster, but it’s clear the new and improved infield defense Stearns sought will take some time to materialize. 

Defensive growing pains are to be expected. Sluggish starts at the plate are making things worse. Polanco is 1 for 10 through three games, albeit with five walks. Bichette is 1 for 14 with an NL-leading eight strikeouts. That includes 0 for 6 with four strikeouts with runners in scoring position. Three games into the season, Bichette’s already heard some boos at Citi Field.

“If anything, I thought it took too long,” Bichette said Sunday about fans booing him. “I get it. I thought my at-bats were terrible too.”

I’m confident Polanco and especially Bichette will hit over the long haul. They didn’t during the season’s first weekend, and they’re not the only guys who’ve started slow (Cal Raleigh is 2 for 15 with 10 strikeouts). It happens. The defense, I’m less confident that will get sorted out. Realistically, the upside for Bichette and Polanco at their new positions may be average, or a tick below.

6. A Mike Trout resurgence could be upon us

It is only four games, but Angels legend Mike Trout is 6 for 13 with two home runs, a stolen base, and an MLB-leading seven walks. He’s also played three games in center field, his first time playing the position since April 2024. Trout believes playing center is less demanding physically and will help keep him on the field.

“He’s been great,” new manager Kurt Suzuki told MLB.com about his three-time MVP. “Just watching him at the plate, he’s comfortable and confident. He’s in a good place right now.”

Trout wasn’t bad last season, it’s just that a .232/.359/.439 slash line qualifies as a down year for him. The biggest thing is health. If Trout can stay on the field, he still has a chance to be a really good player, even if his very best days are behind him at age 34. Trout certainly looked like he’s primed for a bounceback year on opening weekend.

7. The AL East is again the AL Beast

The Blue Jays are 3-0 after striking out 50 Athletics in three games, a new MLB record for strikeouts in the season’s first three games. The Yankees are 3-0 and just the seventh team in history to allow no more than one run in their first three games of the season. The rebuilt Orioles are 2-1. The Rays and Red Sox played better than their 1-2 records would indicate. One weekend into the season, the AL East is the only division that doesn’t have a team with a negative run differential. Once again, this is the best and deepest division in baseball.

8. Rebuilding teams may be better than expected

“Better” may not be the best way to describe them. “More fun” may fit better. The Nationals took two of three against the Cubs at Wrigley Field thanks to Joey Wiemer, who has yet to make an out this year (6 for 6 with two walks). The Marlins swept the Rockies and did it thanks to Caissie’s walk-off homer on Sunday. The Cardinals answered a six-run top of the sixth with an eight-run bottom of the sixth on Opening Day en route to taking a series from the Rays. The Nationals, Marlins, and Cardinals are all in various states of rebuild, but if they can be fun rather than just piling up losses, that would be a huge win for the fan bases.