How Much Change?

The Major League Baseball season starts tonight with the Yankees taking on the Giants, while Thursday is Opening Day with 22 teams playing, along with six more making their debuts on Friday.

It’s a hopeful time of year for baseball fans as they anticipate the upcoming season and get to know this year’s rosters. Of course, during the offseason, teams made trades, signed free agents, and brought up players from the minors.

That means teams will have new players and different lineups compared to last year. At the same time, some teams decided to keep their rosters intact by bringing players back rather than making many changes.

Yahoo! Sports has an article with the headline “MLB Opening Day 2026: How Different Are All 30 Teams Compared to Last Season?”

Writer Jordan Shusterman says this is his “annual exercise of evaluating all 30 rosters based on how much they changed since last year,” as he gives a breakdown of the roster turnover.

He determined that the Mets have made some major changes after a disappointing season, while the Yankees decided to run it back mostly.

The Pirates reshaped their roster and overhauled their offense, while the Tigers are the team most unchanged, as their key free agents returned.

The Guardians are the defending AL Central champions and decided to make only minor changes.

As you can see in the chart, the Rays, White Sox, and Red Sox will all look significantly different this year, while the Mariners, Royals, and Cubs will have rosters that look mostly unchanged.

There are many factors at play for why teams stand pat or make necessary changes, but either way, fans are ready to tune in and see how their favorite MLB team plays in 2026 and how different they’ve become.

When it comes to our own lives, do we ever pause to consider how different we are? If we look back at last year or five years ago, how much have we changed? Or do our lives look relatively the same, and it doesn’t seem like we’ve changed much?

If we are truly followers of Jesus, then our lives should absolutely look different from how they used to, and our character should be changing to become more like Him.

Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT) says, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”

Sure, just like teams that were able to experience winning last season, in some ways we want to stand pat and keep the good things on our “roster intact,” but we really need to trust Jesus to “overhaul” our lives, “reshape” us, and “turn over” anything in us that doesn’t align with the ways of God.

Thankfully, God is always working in us to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29) and is constantly “tweaking our roster” by helping us get rid of our sinful behavior and adding more characteristics that reflect Him.

Paul says in Philippians 1:6 (AMP), “I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].”

Today, as we celebrate the start of the new MLB season, amazed by how rosters have changed, let us reflect on how different we are because of Christ and how God has changed our lives in so many ways.

Let’s not take that for granted or overlook just how much transformation has taken place over the last year. Let’s constantly praise Him for our “new team” and live out the meaningful challenge in Colossians 3:10; NLT: “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him.”

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, when I pause to consider how much I’ve changed because of Christ’s transforming work in my life, I’m filled with gratitude and awe. Thank you that I’m different from how I used to be, and I pray that You would continue to conform me into the image of Jesus. In His name I pray, Amen.