The Cool Of The Grass 2050.9: Deron Alexander Opening Day Starter

[aaronweiner]

Deron Alexander will be the Opening Day starter for the Des Moines Kernels, team officials report. The move comes as a bit of a surprise as Alexander has had very little success over the past few years in Des Moines, but the team made this decision to express confidence in Alexander after providing him some defense and watching him have a strong spring.

"We think Deron's primed for a big year, and we want him to take the ball on Opening Day and run with it," said Des Moines manager Ricardo Alomar. "We have a lot of confidence in this young man."

The choice of Alexander was surprising because the Kernels signed Alaric Wullenweber, the best pitcher in the BBA, this offseason. Wullenweber was reportedly indifferent to the decision, and will start the second game for the Kernels.

"Deron has spent his entire career here and the fans know him," said Alaric. "For me to arrive yesterday and be the franchise today is demeaning to all the players who have worked so hard to get to where they are."

Des Moines has a brutal first week schedule, starting on the road at Nashville and Louisville.

"We'd be very happy this week to win around half," said Alomar. "This is not going to be our best week, but if we can stay competitive we can build off of this experience."