00:00All right. The last thing that I want to talk about here are the opening day starters that are announced
00:05because we are getting into spring training now and we have the first couple of opening day starters announced.
00:13It's always, you know, like a ritual, I guess.
00:17And you have the GoPro set up in the manager's office to tell guys and sometimes it's their first and
00:22it's really emotional.
00:23Sometimes it's telling Paul Skeens that he's going to start on opening day for the Pirates.
00:26And he's like, sweet. Thanks. I expected this. We do have confirmed opening day starters.
00:31Garrett Crochet for the Boston Red Sox, Sandy Alcantara for the Miami Marlins, Tarek Skubal for the Detroit Tigers.
00:37Hunter Brown gets the ball for the Houston Astros and Merrill Kelly will get the ball for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
00:42Of those that jump out for me, it's Merrill Kelly and Hunter Brown in particular.
00:47I'm really happy for Hunter Brown, who continues this ascension to the top of the sport pitching wise.
00:52This is a clear signal, I think, to me that this is his rotation now.
00:57Verlander gone. Fromber gone. Javier was out with Tommy John surgery.
01:02This is Hunter Brown's time to shine.
01:05Yeah. And I mean, it's one of those that like it was it's one of those guarantees.
01:09You knew he was going to be the guy, but to just have it ceremoniously happen here is like the
01:13I think it'll be the final like first.
01:15Unless he wins a Cy Young of like this new looked Hunter Brown, which is just one of the best
01:20young pitchers in baseball.
01:22And I think that that guy that's going to help lead the charge, whether it's this team right now or
01:27a transitional phase a couple of years from now.
01:29And I think a guy that is going to be that face of that rotation for some time.
01:33So I think I think Brown putting him in the opening day side of things, too.
01:37It's a reminder of this is a guy that's I mean, we're going to do our starting pitching rankings,
01:41but this is a guy that's one of the better young pitchers in baseball, one of the better pitchers overall.
01:45So it's going to be fun to watch him on opening day.
01:46And I think he's going to make a lot more opening day starts, no matter how much money the Astros
01:49spend or who they bring in.
01:51It's not going to be a lot of guys that they're going to bring in that are going to be
01:53better than Hunter Brown or even remotely be available.
01:55I think that's a testament to how good he's become.
01:57You find it a little weird that Arizona announced that Merrill Kelly was getting the ball opening day before Gallen
02:02even came back?
02:04Yes and no.
02:05I think I think Kelly deserves it on multiple bases, especially in a situation like this.
02:10I'm typically like I don't believe in the ceremonies, like the ceremonial type of approach where it's like, oh, like
02:15this guy gets it should be the best guy.
02:17But when it's this kind of this wide open rotation situation, you remember that Merrill Kelly's been there since 2020.
02:22And that's after he came back from KBO.
02:24Like he has been one of the most consistent faces for the Diamondbacks and then gets traded, recoups them some
02:32assets and then comes right back and is excited.
02:34And a big part of what they're doing, he was one of their more valuable,
02:37if not their most valuable pitcher throughout the entirety of last season.
02:40And I think he's very deserving.
02:42So I think it almost was powerful that they didn't wait because they could have just sat and said, oh,
02:46we don't know.
02:46Yeah, we're working through some things.
02:47It's like, no, Merrill's back.
02:49This is probably going to be his only opportunity to ever be an opening day starter unless I'm missing another
02:53time.
02:54He did that.
02:54I would be shocked if I'm missing one.
02:55Um, and, and I think it's a really special time and he deserves it.
03:00We got 90 seconds left in this program.
03:03The last guy of that clump that I want to talk about is Sandy Alcantara is going to start his
03:06sixth opening day for the Miami Marlins.
03:09I think a lot of people will look at his year long numbers in 2025 and say, oh, this was
03:15a really bad year.
03:16It was a really bad front four months.
03:18But for the last six to eight starts of Sandy's 2025 season, he got closer to looking like that Sandy
03:25Alcantara that won a Cy Young in 20 through in 22 and has been very good historically over the course
03:30of his career.
03:31Just a quick thought on what you expect from Sandy Alcantara in 26.
03:36I think a lot more of the second half.
03:38Now, I know there's some peripherals that point towards maybe the second half being a little bit fortunate, but I
03:42also think there's a lot of reasons to think that the first half was was unfortunate.
03:46And I think Cy Young Sandy may be a little far fetched, but this is a guy that you could
03:52see and you could feel the way that he finished the year.
03:54And when he walked off the mound at the end of last season, fans giving him an ovation, you can
03:58see he was soaking it in, maybe not knowing if it was the last time.
04:01So for him to have another opening day start in Miami for Miami to hold on to him, I think
04:05it's a really cool opportunity for fans.
04:06And I think it's going to invigorate him this year.
04:08Sixth opening day, and he's only 30, by the way, which is pretty cool, too.
04:12So why can't he take that leap again this year and get back to where he was?
04:15I wouldn't ever fully rule it out for him.
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