Greinke, Witt Jr. Lead Royals to Opening Day Win

After a long offseason that featured everything ranging from a collective bargaining lockout to a reunion with an old friend, the Kansas City Royals took the field in front of the home crowd on Thursday for Opening Day. In an American League Central battle against the Cleveland Guardians, offense was hard to come by until late in the outing.

Ultimately, it was Kansas City that came out on top by a final score of 3-1. The Royals are now undefeated very early in the 2022 campaign and will have a day off on Friday before hosting the Guardians again on Saturday for game two of a four-game series.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday afternoon's game.

Zack Greinke was mostly sharp in his Royals re-debut

When the Royals signed Zack Greinke to rejoin their starting rotation, there was no question that he'd be trotting out for Opening Day. He proved Mike Matheny's decision right on Thursday, tossing 5-2/3 innings of one-run baseball. Greinke only recorded one strikeout, but he also walked just one batter and allowed less than one hit per inning pitched. Of his 84 pitches, 56 of them were strikes. The Royals will be relying heavily on Greinke this season, and he got off to a great start in game one. He wasn't perfect, although he was more than good enough.

Bobby Witt Jr.'s first game is in the books, and it was memorable

Major league debuts always come with nerves, and that was no different for MLB's top prospect. Bobby Witt Jr. went 0-for-3 in his first three at-bats and outside of a nice defensive play on the left side of the infield, he didn't have much going for him in the first contest of the season. It was a relatively quiet afternoon.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, though, Witt came alive and drove in Nicky Lopez for the go-ahead run that ultimately led to the Royals' win. Following his double, Witt scored on Andrew Benintendi's infield single and put Kansas City up 3-1. It was a great first game for a player who's expected to be the Royals' franchise centerpiece — and one that he'll remember for the rest of his life.

The Royals' bullpen got the job done

Things got off to somewhat of a rocky start once Greinke was removed from the game, as Jake Brentz walked a pair of batters in an inning of work that saw him throw 27 pitches. However, he held it together and didn't allow a run to cross the plate. The duo of Josh Staumont and Scott Barlow sealed the deal for the Royals the rest of the way, combining for 2-1/3 innings pitched.

The bullpen's scoreless performance in a tight game was huge for Kansas City, as Matheny will rely on his arm barn to lock things down all year long. Not every starter will go deep in games (or even last into the sixth inning). If Thursday's slate of work was a sign of things to come, close games won't be the Royals' kryptonite.