ESPN will broadcast Jeter era’s first game as 2018 season opens

There apparently will be outside interest in Derek Jeter’s Marlins.

One sign of such attraction: ESPN will broadcast Miami’s 2018 opener, the first game of the Jeter era, against the Cubs at Marlins Park on March 29.

Further, Cubs-Marlins is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., ahead of the other 14 games on Opening Day. That means the first pitch of the entire 2018 season will be in Little Havana.

The game will be blacked out in Chicago. The game will not be blacked out in South Florida. It’s possible Fox Sports Florida, the Marlins’ usual station, will also broadcast the game.

One interesting dynamic in the Marlins getting that brief national spotlight is nobody is sure yet who will be playing for them. In the ESPN release announcing the TV schedule, for example, ESPN noted that their broadcasts in the season’s first few days will include AL MVP Jose Altuve, NL Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger, AL MVP runnerup Aaron Judge and perennial AL MVP contender Mike Trout. It doesn’t include Giancarlo Stanton, the NL MVP, as the Marlins are looking to trade him.

Cubs-Marlins is the start of ESPN’s Opening Day quadruple header. Also included are Astros-Rangers (Houston’s first game as World Series champion), Giants-Dodgers and Indians-Mariners.

Worth noting, the 2018 season will start a few days earlier than normal — on a Thursday, as opposed to the following Sunday — to make room for a few extra off days, as negotiated into the collective bargaining agreement passed last offseason.

thealey@ sunsentinel.com; @timbhealey