Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez recently told Star beat writer Rustin Dodd that he didn’t particularly want to start on Opening Day.
Edinson is not the only pitcher that feels that way; baseball players thrive on routine and there’s nothing routine about Opening Day.
Opening Day tends to include a lot of pregame ceremonies — having won the World Series the Royals will have more than usual — so it’s difficult to know exactly when the game will start.
If a pitcher mistimes it, he might have to warm up more than once.
And then there’s the opposing pitcher.