Thursday was Opening Day of the 2024 MLB regular season, and to say it was a happy occasion would be underselling it.

It had been exactly 180 days since Major League Baseball last had a full slate of regular-season games. There's nothing wrong with taking it all in with nothing but a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your heart. There's the good stuff, and then there's this good stuff.

But if it's observations and takes you want, well, we've got you.

From Mike Trout's exciting opening act to Corbin Burnes' masterful debut to yet another early statement by the three-headed MVP dragon out in the NL West, this is where you can get caught up on all the things that really mattered on Opening Day.

A Glimmer of Hope for Mike Trout

The Los Angeles Angels' season began more or less how anyone might have expected: A generally unimpressive showing in an 11-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Mike Trout, though, started his campaign in style with a solo home run off Corbin Burnes in his very first at-bat:

Opening Day long balls are nothing new for Trout, to be sure. The three-time American League MVP now has four of those on his Cooperstown-worthy record, surpassing (h/t Sarah Langs of MLB.com) Joe Rudi and Tim Salmon for the most in Angels history.

Yet this is certainly the most encouraging Opening Day homer of his career. The only way the Angels are going anywhere this season is if he's healthy and productive. He wasn't exactly the first of those between 2021 and 2023, playing in less than half their games.

Trout arrived to spring training saying he would have "no limitations" in 2024. That didn't exactly reverberate as he hit just .224 in Cactus League play, but it does now.

A Spectacular Orioles Debut for Corbin Burnes

The Orioles traded for Corbin Burnes in hopes that he would be the No. 1 they never really had in 2023, so it wasn't a great look that he got shelled for a 6.75 ERA in spring training.

But does anyone still care about that now?

One would think not after the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner didn't give the Angels another inch after Trout took him deep. It was the only hit he gave up in six innings, otherwise racking up 11 strikeouts in Baltimore's victory.

Thus did Burnes become only the third Orioles hurler to rack up 11 strikeouts on Opening Day, joining Mike Mussina from 1998 and Dave McNally from 1970.

As Burnes also didn't walk anyone, now the question is if he can challenge his record-setting run of 58 strikeouts before he finally issued a free pass from back in 2021.

Consider it an early reminder that Burnes is not only very good, but also potentially the favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award. That would have been Gerrit Cole after he won it last year, but he's going to miss most of the first two months of the season.

Framber Valdez and the Astros Let Yankees off the Hook

It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment when rock bottom was hit, but there was a stretch on Thursday when things just kept going from bad to worse for the New York Yankees.

The day started with them placing Cole on the 60-day injured list, ensuring that his balky right elbow will keep him sidelined until at least late May. Then Nestor Cortes initially struggled in his stead, spotting the Houston Astros a 4-0 lead through two innings.

So how did the Yankees ultimately pull out a 5-4 win?

Start with Framber Valdez, who did induce three double plays but was otherwise hard to watch as he labored through 4.2 innings. In addition to giving up five hits, he walked six batters and also hit Anthony Rizzo with the bases loaded.

Feeling nervous, Astros fans? You should be.

Houston's starting rotation is thin enough without Justin Verlander while he's recovering from a shoulder issue, so the last thing it needs is this version of Valdez. As in, the one that got weirdly untrustworthy as he was putting up a 4.66 ERA in the second half of 2023.

If this is the version the Astros are nonetheless going to get, then it's not too early for general manager Dana Brown to start considering his trade options.

The Dodgers' MVP Trio Is Going to Be a Problem

Look, we're all already thinking that the Los Angeles Dodgers' trio of MVP hitters is going to be a sight to see in 2024.

All I'm saying is: I think we're going to be right.

The Mookie Betts-Shohei Ohtani-Freddie Freeman trio had already put on a show in the Seoul Series, going a combined 10-for-25 with six walks in the two games.

And on it went in the 7-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, starting with Betts' second homer of the year:

Freeman followed with one of his own later in the third inning, this time taking Ohtani along for the ride for a two-run job:

All told, the final line for the trio in the Dodgers' home opener consisted of five hits in eight at-bats, with four walks, six runs scored and four runs driven in.

Starts don't get much better than this, which only makes it that much easier to wonder if Betts, Ohtani and Freeman could even top the numbers they would have combined for as teammates in 2023. Most notably, a 1.006 OPS, 112 home runs and 20.8 rWAR.

This is assuming, of course, that the gambling scandal swirling around ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara doesn't result in discipline for Ohtani...but, hey, if ever there was a day for the Dodgers not to worry about that, it's today.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Shows Blue Jays What They Need to See

Here's a question: Who's the one hitter in MLB who's under more pressure this season than anyone else?

Let's say Vladimir Guerrero Jr., if for no other reason than how wide of a gap there is between his 2024 hype and his 2023 reality. This year, he's the MLB The Show cover boy. Last year, he wasn't even among the league's 140 best position players.

It'll do for a good sign, then, that he provided the top highlight of the Toronto Blue Jays' 8-2 romp over the Tampa Bay Rays with a 450-foot blast to center field:

This is Guerrero at his best. That oh-so-violent swing followed by oh-so-loud contact and ball that lands in parts unknown. For evidence of what wondrous numbers all this is capable of producing, see a 2021 season in which he slammed 48 homers with a 1.002 OPS.

That he only put up an .804 OPS and 58 homers across 2022 and 2023 is frustrating just on the surface, and then there's the notion that he probably deserved better. Especially in 2023, when his under-the-hood metrics still screamed, "Elite hitter!"

Simply on that account, Guerrero could have been expected for a huge rebound year in 2024. That it's already underway is huge for the Blue Jays, who need him to be as good as possible to avoid another season of below-average scoring.

The Reds May Have Something in Nick Martini

Honestly, who needs a cocktail on Opening Day when you can treat yourself to Nick Martini?

Sorry about that, but what I'm not sorry about is giving Martini his due credit after he went deep not once, but twice in the Cincinnati Reds' 8-2 takedown of the Washington Nationals on Thursday.

Thus was Martini responsible for five of the eight runs the Reds pushed across the plate, and in so doing became only the third Red (and first since Adam Dunn in 2007) to go yard twice on Opening Day.

It was nothing if not a nice moment for Martini, who's basically a textbook example of a journeyman. Thursday marked only his 142nd career game in the majors. That's a lot for a 23-year-old. It's not for a 33-year-old like him.

But what if Martini is a secret weapon in Cincinnati?

It's hard not to at least think it, as his big day on Thursday was preceded by him posting a .912 OPS with six homers in 29 games at the end of 2023. The hint is that of a late-career breakout, and one that would make an already dangerous Reds lineup that much more so.

2 Good Reasons to Be Hyped About the Tigers and White Sox

Thursday's matchup Detroit Tigers vs. Chicago White Sox matchup didn't exactly leap off the page, but those who tuned in were treated to a heck of a pitching duel.

For the Tigers, there was Tarik Skubal pacing a 1-0 victory with six scoreless innings, in which he struck out six against three hits and no walks.

For the White Sox, there was Garrett Crochet making his first MLB start and owning it with six one-run innings, complete with eight punchouts and no free passes.

If you're thinking these guys aren't exactly household names, well, you're not wrong. Neither is obscure, to be sure, but they both fit into that general category of "Guys Who Are Known By Baseball Nerds But Not Casuals."

But not for long, perhaps. Skubal was low-key one of the most dominant pitchers of 2023, and he touched 99 mph on Thursday. Crochet did him one better in touching 100 mph, also snapping off some nasty sliders.

The rest of the AL Central and the American League at large should consider themselves warned: These are not guys you want to face.

The Rangers Still Have Their Clutch Gene

The Texas Rangers rung in their 2024 season in pretty much the same fashion that they closed out their 2023 campaign: by refusing to lose.

The Rangers fell behind the Chicago Cubs on three separate occasions on Thursday, but they still eked out a 4-3 win in the 10th inning. Jonah Heim did the walk-off honors with a two-out, bases-loaded knock into the gap in right-center field.

Preceding that were two game-tying homers. Bruce Bochy pushed a right button with Travis Jankowski's pinch-hit job in the ninth—after a horrendous call on a foul ball broke a 2-2 tie in the top half—though the highlight of the game was certainly Adolis García drenching Globe Life Field in swag after knotting the score in the sixth:

The Rangers hitting clutch home runs? Some things never change. Of the 30 total long balls that they hit during their World Series championship run last October, 10 of them either tied the score or gave the Rangers the lead.

It's good to know they still have their clutch gene, because they might actually need it to stay afloat for the first half of the season. It's when the waters figure to be choppiest as they await the returns of Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle.

The Diamondbacks Already Look Terrifying

What the Arizona Diamondbacks need to do this year is quite simple: Prove that, far from a fluke, last season was merely them getting started.

So far, so very good.

The defending National League champs hit the Colorado Rockies hard enough on Thursday to cause seismic activity in the actual Rocky Mountains. They banged out 18 hits and 16 runs, with 13 of those hits and 14 of those runs coming in the third inning alone.

It's the fourth-highest-scoring inning of all time, and it took three Rockies pitchers to get through it. One feels for poor Anthony Molina, whose ERA for the young season stands at 162.00.

Granted, the sheer Rockies-ness of this event can't be ignored. They're a bad team with arguably the worst pitching staff in the league. Them suffering a shameful shellacking wasn't so much a probability as an inevitability.

The Snakes' opening offensive onslaught should nonetheless serve as a warning that, among other things, they have a deeper lineup this year than they did in 2023. They're going to throw punches at everyone in the NL West, up to and including the Dodgers.

Shane Bieber and Tyler O'Neill Own Opening Day

It's too bad we don't yet know when Opening Day of the 2025 season will take place, because we could otherwise circle it and mark Tyler O'Neill down for a home run.

Homering on Opening Day is just what he does now, as he made it five in a row with a long ball in the Boston Red Sox's 6-4 win against the Seattle Mariners:

Meanwhile in Oakland, there was Shane Bieber shutting down the Athletics in the Cleveland Guardians' 8-0 victory. He logged six scoreless innings, striking out 11 against four hits and a walk.

This was his third time racking up as many as 10 strikeouts in an Opening Day start, putting him behind only Randy Johnson for the most of all time. Beyond being a cool bit of history, it's a sorely needed positive sign for the Guardians.

Albeit against a less-than-great lineup, Bieber's fastball was up 1 mph over its average from last year and he got 18 total whiffs on just 83 pitches. In lieu of the guy who was mostly hittable in 2023, he looked a lot more like the Cy Young-winning Bieber of old. That's the guy Cleveland needs to have if it's to have any hope of winning the AL Central.

The Best of the Rest

The Twins Get the Full Royce Lewis Experience

It didn't take long for Lewis to start living up to the huge expectations that he set last year. With a long home run off Cole Ragans in his first at-bat, he got the Minnesota Twins rolling for a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals:

Unfortunately, the less awesome aspect of Lewis' profile also reared its head on Thursday when he left the game early with a right quad injury. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, as the last thing his injury history needs is another entry.

The Paul Goldschmidt Bounceback Is Underway

It was an opener to forget for the Cardinals, as they mustered all of three hits as they got steamrolled by the Dodgers.

On the plus side, all three of those hits were by Goldschmidt, including one that went over the fence in the fourth inning. It's an early sign that the 2022 NL MVP is ready to bounce back after a down 2023 season, which he probably didn't deserve anyway.

Oneil Cruz Update: Yup, Still Mashing

Did someone forget to tell Cruz that spring training is over? Because judging from the game-tying blast he hit in the Pittsburgh Pirates' 6-5 win over the Miami Marlins, you'd swear he doesn't know.

This is coming on the heels of Cruz hitting seven homers in spring training, effectively proving that he's healthy after last year's fibula fracture. It also doubled as a breakout tease, so now you have to wonder: At what point does a tease become the real deal?

The Padres May Have Solved Their RISP Problem

Whereas San Francisco Giants fans might be inclined to chalk up Thursday's 6-4 loss to the San Diego Padres to a leaky bullpen, Padres fans have every reason to look and see something more encouraging.

Namely, that the club is now hitting .378 with runners in scoring position for the young season after going 4-for-12 in that department on Thursday. After they hit just .241 in such spots last year, it's potentially a huge development.

Justin Steele's Injury Adds to Insult of the Cubs' Loss

The Cubs lost a heartbreaker on Opening Day, but what could really haunt them going forward is ace left-hander Justin Steele having to leave early after injuring his hamstring on an athletic defensive play.

Steele, who was an All-Star and the fifth-place finisher in the NL Cy Young Award voting, led the Cubs to a 19-11 record in his starts last year. They went 64-68 otherwise.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.