Opinion

It was all about the Los Angeles Angels' bats heading into the 2013 season. Thanks to Tuesday's news, it's going to be even more about their bats going forward.

We're a week into the baseball season and I have 25 names to write about in today's UTK. Big names like Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Ryan Braun and Jered Weaver have missed at least a portion of the first week, losses that they and their teams can't get back.

Someday we'll take a look at their season stats on Baseball-Reference.com and wonder why their numbers were just a bit low. It takes a bit of a deeper look to understand that missed playing time, missed innings pitched, missed plate appearances are the usual reasons. 

Jered Weaver's injury was an odd one.

"Never believe what you see in April from Major League Baseball."

That may be an overreaction—something fans do all too often. "Don't believe everything you see" would be more accurate. 

If there is a simple thesis that baseball fans need to follow, it should be that what you see in the first weeks of the season, for the most part, have no bearing on how things will turn out at the end of the year. 

In the top of the sixth inning Monday night, the Colorado Rockies knocked out San Francisco Giants' starter Madison Bumgarner. They coaxed five walks out of him on the night and cut the Giants' 3-0 lead to 3-2 against him.

As many of us know, the Toronto Blue Jays have lofty expectations this season. Whether it be from the odds in Vegas to the chatter around the league to the success-starved fans, everyone agrees that the Blue Jays should make the playoffs this season.

With many fair-weather fans joining the fray in Toronto, it would help to give them a little more information about the team, especially regarding the new players on the squad.

Much has been made about the need for expanded instant replay in Major League Baseball, but as long as there are human umpires on the field, there will always be a certain level of human error. 

Before the 2012 season, San Francisco Giants fans cringed when they heard Barry Zito’s name.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have started 2013 in a very similar manner to 2012, struggling to get anything going at the plate. Despite four solid pitching performances in a row, the Bucs are 1-3 heading into Saturday night's tilt with Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.

The Chicago White Sox are used to some chilly nights in early April as they get the season started. Friday night, in their series opener with the Seattle Mariners, two hurlers who made their marks a season ago saw their fortunes turn, at least for one frigid evening.