Opening Day Start a First for A.J. Burnett - KHarmo88's Dynasty

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Opening Day Start a First for A.J. Burnett

Posted on March 31, 2013 at 09:17 PM.

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by Tom Bragg / Piratesprospects.com

It can be hard to find many �firsts� for a player that is entering his 15th season in the big leagues, but when A.J. Burnett takes the mound on Monday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs he�ll be having one of those moments � his first career Opening Day start.

Burnett, now in his second season in Pittsburgh, has spent time with the Marlins, Blue Jays and Yankees in addition to the Pirates but has never been handed the ball to start a season since his debut in 1999. Last season he appeared to be one of the favorites to start on Opening Day but a fractured orbital bone on a bunt attempt in Spring Training put an end to that.

Burnett spoke to the media Sunday afternoon at PNC Park prior to the team�s public workout and said that he has �no clue� what his emotions will be like when he�s on the mound against the Cubs.

�I imagine they�re going to be overwhelming,� he said. �I�m very excited to do this and be a part of Opening Day for the first time but I�m not going to know what�s up until I come out of the dugout and start warming up. I�m sure it�s going to be amazing. It�s been an amazing year for me here so I can only imagine what tomorrow is going to be like.�

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle also spoke to the media on Sunday and said he thinks Burnett is excited to get his first Opening Day start but at the same time knows it is just one of 162 games.

�He�s our best pitcher. It�s Opening Day, it�ll be exciting,� Hurdle said. �It�s his first Opening Day start and he�s excited about that. I do think that a lot goes into Opening Day. At the end of the day it�s kind of good that it�s out of the way and you can move on to the volume of the season even though you�re cutting it down one game at a time. I�m happy for him because he�s getting the opportunity to do it for the first time and getting the opportunity to do it here. This is a city that�s embraced him and he�s embraced Pittsburgh.�

Burnett said he�s going to try to treat the game like it�s any other game but he won�t know how he�ll react until he�s on the mound.

�The thoughts that are going to run through me tonight then I�ll be straight for tomorrow,� he said. �When I go out to warm up tomorrow that�s when the goosebumps will come.�