1
Read a fine Verducci article in which he did stumble a bit in one place: he noted that the last six teams to open in Japan played 29-31 in their next 10 early-season games, "compared to .518 thereafter."
It seemed lost on the author, that a shade under .500 vs. a shade over .500, in that size dataset, means "no detectable difference."
The M's get four preseason games before opening back up. I'd say that the extra starts for Felix -- 3 of the M's first 7 games started by him, and the M's burdened with a 1-ace rotation -- outweigh any jet-lag concerns.