Thursday BP: Opening Day is here

Hello and happy Thursday. More importantly, happy April. And even more importantly, happy Opening Day.

The San Francisco Giants season begins today, as they visit the Seattle Mariners at 7:10 p.m. PT. I, for one, am excited.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Opening Day:

• Baseball is back.
• Giants baseball, specifically, is back.
• Kruk and Kuip and Jon and Dave are back.
• There are no limits. The Giants could win the NL West. Buster Posey could bounce back to MVP levels. Logan Webb could win Cy Young. Austin Slater could be an All-Star. Heliot Ramos could debut and have a three-home run game his first time out. You get to dream about all of that and no one can stop you.
• Everything smells like fresh grass, even if you’re sitting at home in the same apartment you’ve been sitting at home in for 13 months. Maybe something is mildewing?
• It marks the start of a six-month break from trying to figure out what you’re going to do in the evening.

The Giants are up against a lefty in Marco Gonzales, and using a designated hitter, which means the lineup they used in their final Spring Training game is probably the lineup they’ll use in their first regular season game. So here’s who you’ll probably see tonight:

1. Austin Slater — LF
2. Mike Yastrzemski — RF
3. Donovan Solano — 2B
4. Evan Longoria — 3B
5. Wilmer Flores — DH
6. Brandon Belt — 1B
7. Buster Posey — C
8. Brandon Crawford — SS
9. Mauricio Dubón — CF

Kevin Gausman — RHP

Baseball’s back. Tell a friend. Crack a beer. Find the part of the couch that your butt loves the most.

And smile.

Old, random MCC article for you to read

The Padres are possibly the world’s most obnoxious sports team (April 18, 2014 — Grant Brisbee)

Giants links

• Roger Munter looks at the Minor League depth chart at second base (There R Giants)
• Maria Guardado and Daniel Kramer have you covered on everything you need to know about the Opening Day matchup (MLB)
• Kerry Crowley on how Kevin Gausman went from being waived to being an Opening Day starter (Mercury News)
• John Shea on a few former Giants champions who made Opening Day rosters (SF Chronicle)
• Andrew Baggarly’s season preview on how the Giants plan to compete (The Athletic, subscription required)
• Mark W. Sanchez on what the crackdown on foreign substances means for Giants pitchers (KNBR)
• Alex Pavlovic lists five ways the Giants season could go wrong (NBC Sports Bay Area)

How many days until Opening Day?

There are 0 days until Opening Day. That’s pretty cool.

Have a great day, friends. Enjoy it.