MLB ROWI: See which baseball Opening Day games could be impacted by severe storms
Major League Baseball's Opening Day is set to get underway Thursday and FOX Weather has your complete hardball forecast.
CHICAGO — Major League Baseball's Opening Day is set to get underway Thursday and FOX Weather has your complete hardball forecast.
FOX Weather has you covered throughout the long road to October with FOX Weather's Exclusive ROWI — the Risk of Weather Impact. It's a scale based on a comprehensive set of factors, customized for each sport that take into account precipitation, wind, temperature, humidity, lightning risk, and other weather conditions that could impact a particular game.
The ROWI can determine the likelihood of delays and cancellations, but also highlights the weather conditions that measurably influence the game's result.
In terms of baseball, a HIGH ROWI means a game is likely to be delayed or postponed due to weather.
A MEDIUM ROWI means that a game has a chance of being delayed or postponed due to weather and/or the ambient weather conditions are enough to measurably influence the game's outcome.
A LOW ROWI means that weather is not expected to have a significant impact on the contest and a ZERO ROWI means that games resemble indoor conditions.
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Ahead of Thursday's full slate of games, the Yankees and Giants renew their 150-year-old rivalry — squaring off by the Bay in the MLB season opener.
The ROWI is highlighting wind gusts up to 20 mph as potentially having an impact on the game for much of the game.
Max Fried will start for the Yankees against the Giants' Logan Webb, both of whom will hope to lean on their top-of-the-league groundball rates to minimize any role the wind might play in the early innings.
Yankee slugger Aaron Judge will aim to neutralize any wind blowing into Oracle Park, after leading baseball in average exit velocity last year. Meanwhile, the Giants hope power-hitter Rafael Devers will be able to cut through any headwinds — he has four hits, including two home runs in 10 at-bats against Fried.
The ROWI has flagged the Cubs' opener against the Nationals as the game most likely to be postponed due to weather.
Chicago is under a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.
Severe thunderstorms are set to develop Thursday afternoon, likely around first pitch and continue into the evening.
The Cubs have currently not announced any schedule changes.
Behind the storms, temperatures will plummet into the 30s in Chicago, which could impact some pitchers. Matthew Boyd, who emerged as the Cubs' ace last season, and Washington's young talent Cade Cavalli are slated to start Thursday.
Outside of the Cubs-Nationals, picture-perfect baseball weather is expected across much of the rest of the Opening Day slate.
The ROWI is currently LOW for both the Red Sox at Cincinnati and the Rays at St. Louis, both of which could also see rain at some point Thursday.
Be sure the check out the exclusive FOX Weather ROWI throughout the baseball season.
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