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Opening Day: What we saw – Metro US

Opening Day: What we saw

Remember when every single baseball team played on U.S. soil on one day and it was called Opening Day? Yeah, that was fun.

Now we have games last week in Japan, one game on Wednesday night and then a measly six days games on Thursday. Baseball has flubbed one of America’s great traditions.

But I digress. Let’s get to what we saw from a fantasy perspective on Thursday:

* There were some concerns about Frank Francisco’s health coming in, but he looked fine as he worked a 1-2-3 ninth for a save. Francisco has no real competition for saves, so he could easily run with the job.

* Johan Santana threw 84 strong pitches and looked like he could have gone deeper. Impressive.

* Alfredo Aceves has a leg up in Boston’s bullpen already as Mark Melancon came on and took a loss.

* Roy Halladay’s velocity may be down, but he is just too good. Despite the Phils’ brutal offense, Hallday should push for 20 wins again.

* Erik Bedard was a nice sleeper coming in and he proved why Thursday. That breaking ball is still nice.

* Brad Lidge came in and got a save for the Nats. Adjust accordingly.

*Ian Desmond may not be that good in real life, but he’s got major fantasy upside. We’re always looking for guys that can combine power and speed.