Opinion

The hype and excitement that surrounded Yoan Moncada and his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox in February have turned mostly to anticipation and expectation as the Cuban phenom embarks upon his first season in America.

Despite the fact that Pablo Sandoval is hitting just .167 through his first three games with the Boston Red Sox, you still have to like him for your DraftKings squad on Friday.

For Giancarlo Stanton, there will be no escaping the spotlight in 2015. There will be more eyes and, in turn, more pressure on him than ever before. 

In an environment like that, stars can either fade or shine even brighter. And provided you know how to read and comprehend headlines, you can guess which outcome is about to be discussed in this space.

The San Francisco Giants have won three of their first four games. In traditional Giants fashion, all of the games have been close, tightly contested contests.

In recent history, the Giants have excelled in these types of games. They have a quiet confidence that is perpetuated by manager Bruce Bochy.

The Toronto Blue Jays started off the 2015 campaign on a high note by winning their season-opening series against the New York Yankees. Toronto won the first and third games of the three-game series.

After a promising first series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cincinnati Reds will look to establish significant territory in the NL Central standings. Their next 19 games will feature NL Central opponents, and 22 of their next 26 games in total. 

LOS ANGELES — Sorry. These are probably a couple of days late.

Why? Because the Padres just made another trade! When will they stop? Finally, Monday morning at 11, in the Dodger Stadium visitors' dugout, I asked San Diego manager Bud Black about the Opening Day lineup he had just written, and whether he felt good that that would be the lineup that would actually take the field in just over two hours.

The beginning of April means millions of fans tune in for MLB Opening Day 2015, but what did we learn from the first day of meaningful baseball?

When the Boston Red Sox traded Yoenis Cespedes for Rick Porcello last December, they signaled that they were willing to roll the dice on the hurler's big 2014 breakout.

Now they're really rolling the dice on that breakout, suddenly putting an $82.5 million wager on it.

Opening Day is special for everyone who jogs out between the lines. For some, though, it's extra special with special sauce on the side. 

We're talking about the teams and players who rise to the occasion and truly leave their mark, who channel all those months of downtime, offseason machinations and spring preparation into one long-awaited burst of success. Or, alternately, failure—that matters too.

Yes, it's only one game out of 162; there's ample time for heroes to rise and fall. But it's a big deal, at least symbolically.