David Schoenfield, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Let's overanalyze the first day of games

They played baseball games on Tuesday. The games don't mean anything. But it was the first day of spring training games so it's fun to pretend they meant something. Quick thoughts ...

A's 9, Giants 4

Madison Bumgarner got rocked and already everybody is working up a sweat over the career-high 270 innings he threw last year and how that will affect him this year. Christina Kahrl has the full report here but Bumgarner didn't seem too concerned (of course, I'm not sure he's too concerned about anything): "I'm trying to locate them, and I want to get them there and I want to get guys out. But that's not the main concern right now. Obviously, it will be before long. Right now, it's just about getting your arm in shape and getting to make pitches."

The A's did throw out what could be a reasonable approximation of their starting lineup against a left-hander, minus Coco Crisp, so we got an early idea of what Bob Melvin is thinking for his batting order: Craig Gentry, Marcus Semien, Ben Zobrist, Billy Butler, Brett Lawrie, Nate Freiman, Mark Canha, Josh Phegley, Sam Fuld.

Tigers 15, Orioles 2

Ubaldo Jimenez is batting for a rotation spot and looked like ... well, kind of like Ubaldo Jimenez, as he allowed six runs runs in 1.1 innings. He threw 24 of 42 pitches for strikes, walking two and hitting two more. "I don't want to say I lost control, because I had pretty good command of the fastball," Jimenez said. OK. Jimenez probably enters spring sixth on the Baltimore depth chart so will have to pitch his way into the rotation.

Phillies 5, Yankees 5

Did Alex Rodriguez play? No? Let's move on. Actually, one takeaway: Jacoby Ellsbury hit leadoff and Brett Gardner hit second. Last year, Gardner hit leadoff 107 games and Ellsbury 49, so Joe Girardi may be thinking of using Ellsbury more in the leadoff spot. At least Derek Jeter isn't around to muck things up in the No. 2 spot.

Pirates 8, Blue Jays 7

One of the more interesting players to watch in spring training is Korean shortstop Jung Ho Kang, and he homered in his Pirates debut. Jordy Mercer had a solid 2014 so Kang will really have to impress to win the starting job. Aaron Sanchez started for Toronto and gave up a three-run homer to Pedro Alvarez. The Jays are stretching him out as a starter but I still think he ends up in the bullpen.

Reds 10, Indians 0

Yan Gomes hit second for Cleveland, which could be an interesting experiment for Terry Francona. Indians' No. 2 hitters ranked 23rd in the majors in OPS last season, posting a less-than-stellar .294 OBP. Gomes started 88 games in the seventh, eighth or nine spots and while his OBP was .313 he did hit .278 and slugged 21 home runs, ranking fourth on the team in wOBA behind Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall. He may not hit second but he should move up into a higher spot on a regular basis.

Diamondbacks 4, Arizona State 0

Yasmany Tomas went 1-for-2 and played third base. The D-backs seemed determined to try and make that work but most scouts remain skeptical he has the ability to remain there.

Red Sox win twice!

They beat Northeastern 2-1 and Boston College 1-0. Who says there are concerns about the rotation?

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