The Opener: Lorenzen, Robles, Doubleheader

A week into the 2024 season, here are three things to follow around Major League Baseball today:

1. Michael Lorenzen makes another rehab start:

This evening, Michael Lorenzen will make his second rehab start for the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A affiliate of the Rangers (per Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News). He threw 50 pitches in his first rehab appearance and could throw 65-70 today. If all goes well, Grant notes that Lorenzen could be activated next week; the earliest he can return from the 15-day IL is Tuesday. When Lorenzen rejoins the rotation, he is likely to push out Cody Bradford, who earned the No. 5 job this spring.

2. MRI results for Victor Robles:

After injuring his hamstring on Wednesday, Victor Robles is set to undergo an MRI today. Pending the results of the scan, it’s possible the center fielder will need at least a short stint on the injured list; both Mark Zuckerman of MASN and Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post speculated as much last night.

If Robles does indeed hit the IL, expect an announcement from the Nationals sooner rather than later. The team will take on the Pirates this afternoon at 3:05 pm CT, while manager Dave Martinez will host a pregame press conference at noon. What’s more, the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings play today at 12:05 pm CT, and as TalkNats points out, their lineup announcement could suggest who (if anyone) is headed to Washington to replace Robles on the active roster.

3. Mets, Tigers face off in doubleheader:

There are only six games on the docket in Major League Baseball today, and the Mets and Tigers will face off in two of them. After getting rained out on Tuesday and Wednesday, the two teams will play a doubleheader beginning this afternoon at 11:10 am CT. The second game will begin approximately 30 minutes after the first one wraps up. The Mets (0-4) have now been sitting on a winless record for several days, while the Tigers (4-0) are the only team left standing with a perfect record. Adrian Houser of the Mets and Casey Mize of the Tigers will take the mound in game one, while Detroit will bring up Matt Manning and New York will bring up José Buttó (per Mike Puma of the New York Post) as the 27th men to start game two.