30 things to be excited about for Opening Day

The season started last week in Seoul, with the Dodgers against the Padres. But on Thursday, we get Opening Day all over again, all over the baseball map -- in New York and Philadelphia, in Los Angeles and Seattle and Houston, on both coasts of Florida, as what we call The Show opens once again, and in a big way.

So here is my list of the Top 30 things I can’t wait to see once it does, just to help get you going, as if any baseball fan really needs my help with that:

1. I can’t wait to see Juan Soto at Yankee Stadium, with a right-field wall that will look close enough for him to reach out and touch.

2. I can’t wait to see Soto hitting in front of Aaron Judge at Yankee Stadium.

3. I can’t wait to see Mike Trout healthy again, so that anybody who’s forgotten will be reminded of the way Trout played the game when he was routinely called baseball’s very best player.

4. I can’t wait to see if the Orioles can do it again -- if all that young talent is setting them up for the kind of run the Astros began in 2017, after Houston had been stockpiling young talent for years.

5. I can’t wait to see if the Rangers can become the first team since Joe Torre’s Yankees from 1998-2000 to win back-to-back World Series.

6. I can’t wait until Thursday just to see the Phillies and the Braves go at each other in Philly in March, the way they did once again last October.

7. I can’t wait to see the stateside Dodgers debut of Shohei Ohtani.

8. I can’t wait to see The Schwarb making us wonder which lane he’ll choose with his first at-bat of the year: home run or walk or strikeout.

9. I can’t wait to see what Bryce Harper can do, hitting a few spots behind The Schwarb, if he is blessed with good health for an entire season.

10. I can’t wait to see Elly De La Cruz in his sophomore year.

11. And Oneil Cruz, back from injury.

12. I can’t wait to see Edwin Díaz back in the ninth inning at Citi Field, right after we’ve heard the trumpets blare again.

13. I can’t wait to see what Pete Alonso, who has hit more home runs than anybody since he arrived in the big leagues, does in his last season before free agency (unless he signs a new contract during the season).

14. I can’t wait to see what Alex Bregman, such a great player for the Astros during this great seven-year run of theirs, does in his own walk year.

15. And see how his teammate Yordan Alvarez rakes in any year.

16. Can’t wait to see what Yoshinobu Yamamoto does in his second start for the Dodgers, because we all know what happened in his first.

17. And what it will be like watching Mookie Betts play shortstop every day for the Dodgers, as he continues his tour around the diamond and makes you start to wonder when Dave Roberts will throw him into his starting rotation.

18. I want to see what Josh Hader looks like throwing gas out of the bullpen for the Astros.

19. I want to see Francisco Lindor continue to be a streak of light on the field, in addition to being one of the very best shortstops in the game, and maybe the very best after Corey Seager.

20. I want to see Ronald Acuña Jr. continue to be play like one of the great and most exciting Braves of all time.

21. Want to see Rafael Devers continue to hit balls out of Fenway Park.

22. Want to see if Anthony Volpe really is the shortstop -- and the player -- the Yankees so very much want him to be.

23. I want to see if the Diamondbacks, who weren’t supposed to be anywhere near the last World Series, can prove that what they did last October in getting to the ’23 Series was no fluke.

24. I want to see if the Cubbies are all the way back.

25. I want to see if Julio Rodríguez can get to 40 home runs in Seattle even faster than Ken Griffey Jr. did.

26. I want to see how many Giancarlo Stanton can still hit if he can stay healthy.

27. Want to see if the Rays, no matter who they lose, can continue to make the postseason.

28. And if Vlad Jr. reminds us all of the way he can hit at his best, and that -- oh by the way -- he’s still just 25 years old.

29. I want to see if Adolis García can have a regular season like the postseason he had for the Rangers.

30. And I sure want to see how much Jacob deGrom has left in what was, and not so long ago, the best right arm in the game. But we’ll have to wait a couple of more months for that as he continues his rehab from Tommy John surgery.

That’s my list. I’m sure you’ve got your own. Opening Day on Thursday, Part 2. Then we’ll all see.