The trouble for Cole Hamels began early.
Despite stressing fastball command in his final two spring outings, Hamels struggled to find it Thursday. He fell behind leadoff hitter George Springer 2-0, then left a fastball over the outer third of the plate. Springer drove it into the right-field stands. It was the second consecutive season that Springer led off the opener with a homer.
Falling behind was a pattern for Hamels. He threw first-pitch balls to nine of the first 13 hitters and fell behind six of them 2-0. According to Banister, Hamels had a hard time finding a comfortable landing spot on the mound.