March 30, 2023: Melissa Lambert makes history, but Twins shut out Royals on Opening Day

In his 1984 collection of essays on baseball, Why Time Begins on Opening Day, longtime Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell described the sport’s Opening Day as a “symbol of rebirth”: an opportunity for every team and its fans to start fresh with a 0-0 record, ready to embrace new possibilities and put the previous season in the rearview.1

Boswell’s portrayal of Opening Day felt especially apt for the start of the 2023 season, which began on Thursday, March 30. For the first time since 1968, every team began its season on the same day.2 Also, Major League Baseball introduced several rule changes aimed at creating a “crisper, more engaging, more athletic, more entertaining experience.”3 This included a pitch timer, limits on pickoffs and step-offs, restrictions on defensive shifts, and the expansion of the base sizes from 15 inches to 18 inches.4

Two historic firsts occurred that afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, where two American League Central Division foes, the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins, began the season.

Melissa Lambert, the Royals’ director of behavioral science and MLB mental performance, made history as the first licensed mental health provider and mental performance coach to hold an on-field role with a major-league team.5 She also became the first woman to serve on the Royals’ coaching staff.6

Lambert, a former college soccer player, had served as an employee assistance professional and mental skills coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers before joining the Royals organization for the 2020 season in a behavioral science capacity.7 Her new role supported players and coaches in mental performance and oversaw the organization’s mental performance programs.8 As she described it, “This includes collaboration with the coaches on training environments, psychological skills they can utilize with players, perspectives on managing certain behaviors, motivation, confidence, etc.”9

Royals players expressed support and admiration for Lambert. “As far as what she’s brought, I think peace to the team a little bit,” said first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. When things are up or down, she can bring you back to even, to that 50/50 spot. She’s been a great addition to this team and we’re all very thankful to have her around.”10 Pitcher Daniel Lynch added, “I’ll never be embarrassed to talk about mental health. I’ve been an open book about it. It’s healthy. And I, for one, am glad to have her around.”

Lambert also earned high praise from the team’s manager, Matt Quatraro, who told KSHB-TV 41 Kansas City:

Melissa’s been tremendous. She’s extremely intelligent, has a good way about her, is really caring, understands some of the demands that go on here with the players, and has done a really good job building relationships with players and their families. She understands the pressures of what goes on the field, but also off the field. The players have been very accepting and understand that she brings a lot of value to the team.11

Coincidentally, Opening Day 2023 was also Quatraro’s debut as a major-league manager. He was hired by the Royals in October 2022, after serving as a coach with the Tampa Bay Rays.12

Zack Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner and a six-time All-Star who himself struggled with social anxiety and depression earlier in his career, started for the Royals, marking his 20th year in the majors at the age of 39.13 With one out in the first inning, Carlos Correa sparked the Twins’ offense with a single to left field. Byron Buxton followed with another single to left, advancing Correa to second. But Greinke halted the Twins’ momentum by striking out Trevor Larnach and inducing a groundout from Nick Gordon to end the inning.

Greinke then faced the minimum of nine batters through the next three innings, aided by third baseman Hunter Dozier starting an around-the-horn double play in the second inning.

Matching Greinke with scoreless innings was Minnesota’s Pablo López, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander acquired in a high-profile offseason trade with the Miami Marlins for reigning AL batting champion Luis Arráez.14 López retired the first seven Royals batters in order before walking Kyle Isbel with one out in the third. He struck out Bobby Witt Jr. to strand Isbel at second. Strikeouts of Pasquantino and Franmil Reyes defused a two-on, none-out situation in the fourth.

It was still a scoreless game when both teams threatened in the fifth. Greinke allowed one-out singles to Christian Vázquez and Michael A. Taylor – both debuting with Minnesota after signing as free agents in the offseason – and Max Kepler’s groundout advanced the runners to second and third. But Greinke induced his former Houston Astros teammate Correa to pop up for the final out.

In the bottom of the inning, the Royals loaded the bases with one out. Isbel doubled and Edward Olivares was hit with a pitch. López then walked Witt (who was headed for a breakout year in his second major-league season) and threw three consecutive balls to MJ Melendez. But on a full count, López pulled the string with a changeup, causing Melendez to softly tap to Joey Gallo at first. Gallo fired home to catcher Vázquez, who quickly sent it back to first, where second baseman Gordon covered the bag to complete a double play.15

Minnesota finally broke through against Greinke in the sixth. Buxton led off with a triple to right field and scored the game’s first run on a single from Larnach. Greinke got the next batter, José Miranda, to foul out to right on a first-pitch sinker.

Kyle Farmer pinch-hit for Gordon, prompting Quatraro to replace Greinke with Amir Garrett. Garrett, a left-hander who had joined the Royals in 2022 after six seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, walked Farmer before giving up a hit to pinch-hitter Donovan Solano. Larnach scored and Farmer moved to second. The Twins now led, 2-0.

López returned to the mound for the bottom of the sixth and struck out Royals catcher Salvador Pérez,16 who before the game had been named Kansas City’s fourth-ever team captain in the franchise’s 55-season history.17

After he retired Pérez, López’s day was done. “He’s our ace for a reason,” said Buxton after the game. “Having him is pretty incredible.”18

López was replaced by lefty Caleb Thielbar, who retired the next two batters to close out the sixth.19 He stayed in the game to set down lefty-swinging Royals second baseman Michael Massey to open the seventh. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli brought in righty Jorge López for the next two outs.

In the eighth inning, Air Force Academy alumnus Griffin Jax was the fourth Twins pitcher. Jax, a third-round selection by the Twins in 2016, induced a lineout to center from Olivares before walking Witt. With Witt on first, Jax got Melendez to ground into another double play, ending the inning.

In the meantime, Quatraro called on a series of Royals relievers – Dylan Coleman in the seventh, José Cuas in the eighth, and Carlos Hernández in the ninth – who kept it a two-run game with scoreless innings.

The Royals had one last chance as they faced Jhoan Durán in the bottom of the ninth. Duran – installed as the Twins’ closer after an outstanding rookie season in 2022 – retired Pérez on a fly out, then walked Pasquantino after a seven-pitch battle. Duran then got designated hitter Reyes to ground out to second base and struck out Massey on a curveball, securing an Opening Day victory for the Twins.

The Twins shut out the Royals again in the season’s second game, another 2-0 victory, and went on to a three-game sweep. They led the AL Central Division nearly wire-to-wire in 2023 and finished with an 87-win season and their third division title in five seasons. Minnesota held first place most of the season and never trailed by more than half a game. After sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL wild-card series, the Twins had their World Series hopes dashed by the Houston Astros, who beat them in the AL Division Series, three games to one.

The Royals’ season was far less successful. They finished last in the AL Central Division with a 56-106 record, 31 games behind the Twins.

Lambert was the Royals’ nominee for the 2023 Katy Feeney Leadership Award, which honors outstanding female executives from each of the 30 clubs.20 As of 2024, she remained the Royals’ director of behavioral science / MLB mental performance.21

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Stew Thornley and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and ESPN.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA202303300.shtml

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401471026

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2023/B03300KCA2023.htm

Photo credit: Melissa Lambert, courtesy of the Kansas City Royals.

Notes

1 Thomas Boswell, Why Time Begins on Opening Day (New York: Doubleday, 1984).

2 Cole Jacobson and Theo DeRosa, “15 Games, 1 Huge Day: Here’s What You Need to Know,” MLB.com, March 30, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/opening-day-2023-guide.

3 Anthony Castrovince, “8 Changes Fans Need to Know for the ’23 Season,” MLB.com, March 28, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rules-changes-refresher-2023-season.

4 “8 Changes Fans Need to Know for the ’23 Season.”

5 Betsy Webster, “Mind Over Batter: Royals Praise History-Making Mental Skills Coach,” KCTV5, July 16, 2024, https://www.kctv5.com/2024/07/16/mind-over-batter-royals-praise-history-making-mental-skills-coach/.

6 Anne Rogers, “Royals Target Mental Health with History-Making Hire,” MLB.com, March 26, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/melissa-lambert-becomes-first-ever-woman-on-royals-on-field-staff.

Lambert had served as assistant director of behavioral science with the Royals since 2019 before being promoted to the role of director during the offseason. In 2022 San Francisco Giants coach Alyssa Nakken became the first on-field female coach in MLB history.

7 Tierney Hogan (Eastern Connecticut University Sports Information), 2019 Feature Article on Melissa Lambert, available at https://littleeast.com/news/2023/3/29/womens-soccer-eastern-connecticut-soccer-alum-melissa-lambert-breaking-ground-with-mlbs-kansas-city-royals.aspx, accessed November 2024. A native of Montville, Connecticut, Lambert earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Eastern Connecticut State University. She earned a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Springfield College in Massachusetts in 2009. For the next nine years, Lambert worked as a behavioral health clinician, clinical mental health therapist, athletic performance coach, and community center program director. She met the Royals’ senior director of behavioral science, Ryan Maid, at an MLB mental health conference in 2018. Lambert began working under Maid’s guidance in 2019 as the assistant director of behavioral science with the Royals.

8 Kansas City Royals, “Front Office Directory. Melissa Lambert,” MLB.com, accessed September 20, 2024, https://www.mlb.com/royals/team/front-office/melissa-lambert.

9 Jared Perkins, “Hitting Home: Baseball and Mental Health with Kansas City Royals’ Melissa Lambert,” Justbaseball, November 28, 2023, https://www.justbaseball.com/mlb/hitting-home-baseball-mental-health-kansas-city-royals-melissa-lambert/.

10 Anne Rogers, “Royals Target Mental Health with History-Making Hire.”

11 Tod Palmer, “Trailblazer Melissa Lambert Helps Royals Flourish Through Baseball’s Mental Grind,” KSHB.com, June 12, 2024, https://www.kshb.com/sports/trailblazer-melissa-lambert-helps-royals-flourish-through-baseballs-mental-grind.

12 “Royals Name Matt Quatraro 18th Full-Time Manager in Franchise History,” MLB.com, October 30, 2022, https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-royals-name-matt-quatraro-18th-full-time-manager.

13 Taylor Hemness, “16 Years after Zack Greinke Stepped Away from Royals, Mental Health in Sports Viewed Differently,” KSHB, April 7, 2022, https://www.kshb.com/sports/baseball/royals/16-years-after-zack-greinke-stepped-away-from-royals-mental-health-in-sports-viewed-differently.

14 Jeff Passan, “Sources: Marlins Acquire All-Star Luis Arraez in Trade with Twins,” ESPN, January 20, 2023, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35491193/sources-marlins-acquire-all-star-luis-arraez-trade-twins.

15 Phil Miller, “Larnach Excited after Sparking Offense on His First Opening Day,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 31, 2023: C5.

16 Salvador Pérez made his major-league debut with the Royals in 2011. Over the years, he has established himself as one of the premier catchers in the league. He is a nine-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, World Series Champion, and two-time All-MLB First Team selection, and has won the Silver Slugger Award four times. In 2021 Pérez set a new record for the most home runs hit by a catcher in a season, 48.

17 Pete Grathoff, “Perez Reflects on Being Named Royals’ 4th Ever Team Captain,” Kansas City Star, April 1, 2023: 11.

18 Jim Souhan, “López Story of Game, but Can He Be This Good?” Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 31, 2023: C1.

19 Interspersed with his time with the Twins, Thielbar had a brief stint in independent ball and the minor leagues with the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves.

20 Ryan Gilder, “Greatest Strength of Women in Baseball Lies in Their Community,” MLB.com, November 8, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/caroline-o-connor-women-in-baseball-katy-feeney-leadership-luncheon.

21 Kansas City Royals, “Coaching Staff.” MLB.com, accessed August 18, 2024, https://www.mlb.com/royals/roster/coaches.