DETROIT — Growing up in Lithuania, Dovydas Neverauskas didn’t think much about his first opening day with a Major League Baseball team. Back in the day, he couldn’t watch American baseball on TV, and in any case, he knew his chances of making the big leagues were slim.
“No clue I’m going to make it,” Neverauskas said. “Growing up, this was my dad’s dream more than mine because, you know, we don’t have MLB channels back home, back in the day. … He believed he can grow up a major-league player.”
Neverauskas, the first Lithuanian-born player to appear on an MLB opening day roster, is one of five Pirates who are in Detroit for their first major-league opening day, along with pitchers Steven Brault and Edgar Santana, third baseman Colin Moran and catcher Elias Diaz.