7 days from Opening Day, here's 7 things you need to know

Let's face it - you didn't watch many spring training games. Heck, a ton of them weren't televised. Even Bruce Bochy stayed home one day because his San Francisco Giants were being managed by broadcaster Chris Berman instead.

But now it's almost time for the real thing, with Opening Day just a week away. And it will be the first time since 1968 that every MLB team gets their season underway on the same day.

So, with clubs soon moving back to their big-league homes and with most of the key roster decisions resolved, a few major storylines have emerged. Seven days out from the start of the season, let's take a look at seven big ones you need to know:

Acuna is the future

Despite raking in spring like few prospects have raked before, Ronald Acuna will not be with the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day. And that's simply because the young phenom's service-time clock has yet to begin ticking.

Of course, the Braves won't admit it for fear of losing a grievance, while insisting that Acuna will benefit from more development time even after posting a 1.247 OPS with four home runs and four stolen bases in 16 spring games.

Regardless, Atlanta fans can expect to see the top prospect get his official promotion from Triple-A soon after April 11, when Acuna will be able to start playing without accruing a full year of service time.

Ohtani has been a disaster

Through 2 2/3 official spring innings, Shohei Ohtani has been tagged for eight earned runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out five. Perhaps most concerning is that he's given up three home runs. There's no denying his electric stuff, but the highly touted prospect's command hasn't yet made the trip from Japan.

On the other side of the ball, Ohtani has gone 2-for-24 at the dish with three walks. His patience at the plate has looked great at times, but his inability to make hard contact has some scouts worried.

Despite all this, there's no question he's still considered the top prospect in the game. What made him such an impressive player in Nippon Professional Baseball was his ability to make adjustments and stay dominant. It's also worth remembering a few things:

• He's 23 years old
• It's his first full month playing baseball in a foreign country
• Ichiro was thought to be overmatched during his first spring back in 2001, but went on to win AL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player

Ideal Mets rotation is finally healthy

Meet the Mets, meet the Mets - step right up and greet the healthy version of the Mets. Days away from the beginning of the season, it seems Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, and Zack Wheeler are all healthy and will make their first turn in the rotation together for the first time ever.

Of course, in typical Mets fashion, the team took an odd route to get here. After adding Jason Vargas to strengthen the rotation's depth in case of more injuries, it was actually the new recruit who ended up with a fractured hand. Vargas isn't expected to miss much time, though, and if the other starters keep a clean bill of health, the Mets could threaten for a postseason berth.

Greg Holland is still unemployed

Though Alex Cobb finally found a job ahead of Opening Day, top free-agent closer Greg Holland remains unemployed.

What's perhaps most interesting about Holland's situation is that the relief market was surprisingly robust during an otherwise quiet offseason. Wade Davis set a record for the highest-ever annual salary for a closer, while Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee, Brandon Morrow, Tommy Hunter, Juan Nicasio, Addison Reed, Pat Neshek, and Anthony Swarzak, among others, all signed lucrative multi-year deals as relievers. Meanwhile, the second-best closer who was available this winter is still looking for a job.

While Holland now headlines the list of out-of-work major leaguers, Jose Bautista, Yunel Escobar, Mark Reynolds, and Adam Lind are also without gigs.

Kershaw hasn't allowed a single run

Breaking: Clayton Kershaw is good.

Reading into spring stats can always be dangerous, but the best pitcher on the planet embarrassing hitters in spring is still noteworthy. The 30-year-old Kershaw has a 1.02 WHIP and 19 strikeouts while allowing no runs over 14 2/3 innings.

Related: Where Kershaw ranks among all-time starters on his milestone birthday

Looking forward, this could be a somewhat pivotal year for Kershaw's legacy. Sure, he's already a lock for Cooperstown, but he could win his fourth Cy Young if everything goes well. Meanwhile, Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals will also be going for his fourth. Or, could an outside contender - Syndergaard, perhaps - take the honor?

Astros have a 24.5 percent chance of repeating

The season hasn't started yet, but the defending World Series champion is already a one-quarter favorite to repeat, according to FanGraphs.

The Houston Astros are currently a 98.9 percent favorite to make the postseason, are 96.3 percent likely to win the division, have a 36.3 percent chance to make the World Series, and are given a 24.5 percent chance to win it all. Even for a team as dominant as the Astros, that's crazy.

To help put those numbers in perspective, only one other team has a greater than 90 percent chance of winning its division - the Cleveland Indians, who will regularly play against three clubs that are openly non-competitive. Meanwhile, no other team has a 30 percent chance of appearing in the World Series, and Houston is more likely to win the Fall Classic than the Indians and New York Yankees combined. According to the probabilities, the Astros are actually more likely to win the World Series than the Arizona Diamondbacks or Milwaukee Brewers are to even make the postseason.

There's a reason the games are played, but in the age of superteams making their way into MLB, the Astros reign supreme.

The Mariners might finally be good

You've probably heard this before, but if you're the type of person to buy into spring hype, look no further than the 2018 Seattle Mariners.

Dan Vogelbach leads all qualified hitters in OPS with a 1.357 mark in 18 spring games. The 25-year-old first baseman has gone 18-for-46 with 10 walks, six doubles, and five home runs after being the main prospect to come over in the Mike Montgomery trade with the Chicago Cubs, and may be turning a corner.

Meanwhile, Marco Gonzales has posted an impressive 1.10 ERA over 16 1/3 innings. Among qualified starters, only Lance McCullers and Julio Teheran have been better. Seattle nabbed the 26-year-old left-hander from the St. Louis Cardinals for Tyler O'Neill in a swap of prospects last year, and he may be ready to break out.

And it's not just about prospects. Seattle also made a win-now move by acquiring Dee Gordon from Miami in a surprising December trade, and he's performed well at the plate this spring while moving from second base to center field.

So, after missing the postseason for 16 consecutive years, perhaps the Mariners are finally a legitimate sleeper team.

(Pictures courtesy: Getty Images)