Astros Morning Snippets: Opening Day is finally here!

ARLINGTON, TX - MARCH 29: Jake Marisnick #6, Josh Reddick #22, Jose Altuve #27 and George Springer #4 of the Houston Astros celebrate the 4-1 win over the Texas Rangers in the Opening Day baseball game at Globe Life Park in Arlington on March 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - MARCH 29: Jake Marisnick #6, Josh Reddick #22, Jose Altuve #27 and George Springer #4 of the Houston Astros celebrate the 4-1 win over the Texas Rangers in the Opening Day baseball game at Globe Life Park in Arlington on March 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

The latest news around the Astros on March 28th, which is Opening Day! It is finally here!

Opening Day in Tampa

Wow, everyone. Opening Day is finally here. Just, wow. I’m so excited to see how this team performs in 2019. Justin Verlander gets the nod to start the Astros 2019 season and he is opposite of the guy who bested him for last year’s AL Cy Young award, Blake Snell. I’m sure Verlander doesn’t anymore motivation, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he came out with a little something extra against the Rays.

Doubtful Opening Day for Carlos Correa

At this point, it is difficult to tell if Correa will really sit out the first game of the season. It would be disappointing, but at least it sounds like his sore neck isn’t related to the back injury he suffered last year.

Personally, I wouldn’t be shocked if Correa sits this one out. After all, the Astros have Alex Bregman to cover shortstop or even newcomer Aledmys Diaz. If it is only for one game, the Astros will be fine.

Next. Astros: Preview of opening series against the Tampa Bay Rays. dark

The state of Texas belongs to the Astros right now

Here’s the article link about the state of Texas belonging to the Rangers in 2019. Yes, those Rangers. And, yes, Vividseats.com based it on the number of tickets sold in each county. The Rangers came away with 148 counties while the Astros finished with 98. For context, there are 254 counties in Texas.

But there is one major problem with that analysis: Most of the areas in north and west Texas aren’t nearly as heavily populated as areas in the southern and eastern halves of the state. Instead of basing it on counties where the population may not be more than a couple of hundred to a few thousand, how about basing an analysis on the total population size in the state?