The switch-hitting Dodgers catcher launched a home run from both sides of the plate as a part of a LA season-opening route over the Padres.
Yasmani Grandal decided to see Madison Bumgarner’s historic, power-laden debut and raise him one.
The Los Angeles Dodgers smashed the San Diego Padres in their 2017 debut, besting their divisional foes by a lopsided 14-3 final. In the process, the Dodgers catcher made a pronounced debut, and a little bit of history as well.
On Monday afternoon, Grandal launched a pair of home runs during the Dodgers route; one coming from each side of the plate. The first of which coming as a solo shot against Jhoulys Chacin in the third inning from the left side of the plate, and also forming the back end of back-to-back homers with Joc Pederson. Grandal’s second homer came from the right side of the dish in the eighth inning versus Jose Torres, and was a two-run. On the day as a whole, Grandal went 2-for-5, with all of his production coming as a by product of his pair of shots.
The 28-year-old is coming off a breakout offensive season, where he turned out 27 homers. However, in this season’s opener against his former club, Grandal both matched Bumgarner atop the National League’s home run board, but he also matched a bit of unique opening day history for himself as well.
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While many have had multi-homer performances to open the season, Grandal became only the third player in history to go from both sides of the plate on opening day. The last (and only previous) time this feat was pulled off was in 2009, when both Tony Clark and Felipe Lopez pulled it off for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Colorado Rockies.
We are only two days into the 2017 baseball summer, but quite the show has been put on in making the long ball interesting.