You might want to hop online and grab some tickets for the Phillies game on April 8 date against the Miami Marlins.

That’s when stud free agent acquisition Jake Arrieta will make his regular season debut in a Phillies uniform, manager Gabe Kapler announced this afternoon. I hope to see much of this:


Our first opportunity to see Arrieta pitch in Philadelphia may not bring with it the same level of hype as Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay’s first start, but the atmosphere at Citizens Bank Park should be electric for the first time in a long time. If the Phillies get out of the gate with a good start, I imagine this game has a chance to be played in front of a capacity crowd.

Unsurprisingly, Kapler was fired up talking about the former Cy Young Award winner:

We plan on getting 30-plus starts out of Jake. Really excited about this. He’s on board and excited. So…We’re all feeling really good about the plan.

I, too, feel excited and good about the plan.

On a personal note, I purchased tickets for the April 7 game 20 minutes after the news broke of his signing two weeks ago, so, naturally, he would start the next day. That’s about right.

Arrieta will throw on Tuesday in the Phils’ final spring training game and then again on April 2 against minor leaguers. Then, it’s showtime.