o Tatis Jr. and Eloy Jimenez.In large part because they weren’t stuck at El Paso and Charlotte.It’s common for baseball’s top prospects to spend a bit of time in the minors at the beginning of the season http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , but the Padres and White Sox put Tatis and Jimenez on the roster this year, and they made their big league debuts Thursday. Tatis, a shortstop, had two hits in San Diego’s win over San Francisco . Jimenez, an outfielder, had a run and an RBI in Chicago’s loss to Kansas City .Jimenez hit .355 in 55 games at Triple-A Charlotte last year, and shortly before the start of this season, he signed a $43 million, six-year contract — a record high for a player under club control who hadn’t yet appeared in a major league game.So it was no surprise to see Jimenez in the majors right away. Tatis’ situation was different. Delaying a player’s service time for a few weeks can delay potential free agency down the road, and Tatis hadn’t played above Double-A. But instead of sending him to Triple-A El Paso, the Padres brought him right to the majors.“I told my dad, my head was in the minor leagues Nolan Ryan Jersey ,” Tatis said. “If they sent me down, I was not surprised. If they called me up, it was going to be a big surprise.”Tatis, who turned 20 on Jan. 2, became the youngest player to start on opening day since 19-year-old Adrian Beltre in 1999. He became the youngest player with a multihit game on opening day since Robin Yount in 1975.Tatis is ranked as the game’s No. 2 prospect by mlb.com, behind only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The debate about whether Guerrero should start the season with the Toronto Blue Jays or in the minors became moot when he went down with a strained left oblique.ALREADY?It didn’t take long for some position players to take the mound this year.The circumstances this time: The Dodgers and Diamondbacks played a 13-inning marathon Friday night that lasted over six hours. On Saturday, Los Angeles beat Arizona 18-5, with Diamondbacks catcher John Ryan Murphy giving up seven runs in two innings of relief. Dodgers catcher Russell Martin also pitched, retiring the side in the ninth on 10 pitches.ALL OR NOTHINGThere’s been plenty of talk over the past few years about baseball becoming a game of home runs and strikeouts, and the very early returns in 2019 indicate nothing is changing in that regard. So far, 23.2 percent of all plate appearances have resulted in a strikeout, and 3.3 percent have resulted in a homer.The numbers last season were 22.3 and 3.0.HIGHLIGHTLorenzo Cain robbed Jose Martinez of a tying home run for the final out of Milwaukee’s 5-4 win over St. Louis on opening day. Martinez’s pinch-hit drive nearly cleared the wall in right-center http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , but Cain brought the ball back, giving the Brewers the victory.LINE OF THE WEEKWhile much of the focus was on Bryce Harper and Manny Machado as they began playing for the Phillies and Padres, Paul Goldschmidt got off to quite a start with the Cardinals. Goldschmidt, who was traded from Arizona to St. Louis in the offseason, homered three times in a 9-5 win over Milwaukee on Friday night.Goldschmidt was denied a chance at a fourth home run when he was intentionally walked in the ninth inning. David Banks/Getty ImagesChicago Cubs star Kris Bryant voiced the frustrations of many MLB fans when he criticized the ongoing trend of service time manipulation by teams with the game's top prospects.The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma shared Bryant's thoughts about the practice:"It's awful. So awful. It's going to happen this year and it happens every year. I could understand it if you go out and have a rough spring training where you don't look ready. But there's certain people who put the time and the effort into the offseason so that they do show up to spring training and they prove that they're ready to go. I feel like you should be rewarded for that."Bryant added that the custom is within the rules under the collective bargaining agreement but that it's tantamount to exploiting a "loophole."Bryant made his MLB debut April 17, 2015, in the Cubs' ninth game of the season. He almost certainly would've made Chicago's Opening Day roster if the team hadn't been focused on preserving an extra year of team control down the line.Bryant is far from the only player who experienced that, though.Gleyber Torres and Ronald Acuna Jr. didn't arrive in MLB until April 22 and 25, respectively, during the 2018 season despite being more than ready on Opening Day. Torres finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting, and Acuna was the National League Rookie of the Year.This year, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the most obvious example.The 19-year-old third baseman hit .381 with 20 home runs and 78 RBI for the Toronto Blue Jays' rookie league Asdrubal Cabrera Jersey , High-A, Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2018. Despite Guerrero's success at the plate, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins told reporters earlier this month that Brandon Drury will likely open as the starter at the hot corner.Likewise, Eloy Jimenez slugged .577 with a .384 on-base percentage in 108 Double-A and Triple-A games for Chicago White Sox affiliates in 2018. He wrote a piece for the Players' Tribune in August to say he was ready for the jump to the majors. Jimenez, however, will almost certainly start 2019 with the Charlotte Knights, the White Sox's Triple-A affiliate.Teams have a clear incentive to maintain the status quo. Bryant is in his second year of arbitration and won't hit the open market until 2022. The two-time All-Star would've been a free agent in 2021 if the Cubs had him on their MLB roster to open 2015.That additional year has value, and it's hard to imagine general managers and team owners changing their tune unless the matter is addressed during the next round of CBA negotiations.