Hello Fans

Just a few notes on the most glorious day of the year…

– Curtis Granderson is in the lineup for the New York Yankees. Looks like his oblique is all better, or at least good enough to give it a shot.

– Will Rhymes is the opening day second baseman for the Detroit Tigers… probably won’t help your fantasy teams much though.

– Tim Stauffer is the opening day starter for the Padres, with Mat Latos’ injury keeping him out of the rotation until April 6th at the earliest.

– Luke Hochevar starts for the Royals… Can he finally put it all together? Probably not.

– Mark Trumbo will fill in for Kendry Morales while the Cuban monster is on the DL. Trumbo showed 30+ HR power in the minors, so he could be interesting.

– Brian Fuentes will open the season as the A’s closer while Bailey recovers from injury.

– Edwin Encarnacion will play 3B for the Jays this year. could he have a Jose Bautista-like breakout in 2011? Also for the Jays, Frank Francisco’s injury has opened the door for some saves from John Rauch… if he can get anyone out.

– Kyle McClelan has earned the 5th spot in the Cardinals rotation, hoping to pick up some of the slack left over from the devastating injury to Adam Wainwright.

– Russell Branyan has made the opening day roster in Arizona… look out league.

– Attention San Francisco, Brandon Belt has arrived… earlier than expected!

– Another rookie, Michael Pineda, secured the 5th spot in the rotation for the Mariners. There’s a lot of hype behind this kid.

– Out of nowhere, the Mets gave the starting 2B job to rookie Brad Emaus. Kid hit .298 in AAA last year, and the Luis Castillo took his talents to Philadelphia, so I guess why not?

– Chris Tillman beat out Brad Bergessen for the 5th spot in the Orioles rotation.

– Jose Contreras will be closing for the Phillies until Brad Lidge comes back… intriguing pickup if you need a bullpen arm.

– Sam LeCure is the 5th starter in Cincinnati for now. Could he be LeCure for what ails ya? (note: I didn’t think this was a significant development, i just wanted to make that pun.)

– Justin Morneau has officially been cleared to play, and will be in the opening day lineup for Minnesota. Good to see him battle back from his broken brain.

That’s it for now, I’ll update with anything else of note that happens on this wonderful day. Enjoy it, fans!

image courtesy of: http://www.fdynamo1986.com