SAN DIEGO -- Nick Margevicius is no stranger to the festivities surrounding an Opening Day. Growing up in northeast Ohio, he estimates he might've gone to 10 Indians home openers in his childhood. It was practically a family holiday.

"My kindergarten teacher even told my dad, 'It's OK to miss school on Opening Day,'" Margevicius quipped. "So I got permission."

The rookie left-hander missed the Padres’ ceremonies last Thursday. He wasn’t promoted until Saturday for his debut. But Margevicius gets another chance to take in an Opening Day on Friday. This time, he'll be on the mound at Busch Stadium in St. Louis for the 1:15 PT scheduled start.

"We had a great crowd here for my debut," Margevicius said. "I'm excited to pitch in front of an awesome crowd again. I've only heard awesome things about St. Louis as a baseball town."

The rookie left-hander was originally slated to take the ball Thursday against the Cardinals, but that game has already been pushed back a day due to inclement weather in the forecast.

Of course, Margevicius is no stranger to pitching in rough conditions. He started on Opening Day for Fort Wayne last year in the Class A Midwest League. First-pitch temperature was 30 degrees, and the following day's game got canceled due to snow.

Needless to say, Margevicius has come a long way since he started last year in Class A. He made the jump to Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore midseason, then he pitched for San Antonio in the Double-A playoffs.

This spring, Margevicius came out of nowhere to win the final spot in the Padres' rotation. He debuted Saturday night and allowed one run over five innings against the Giants.

"It's a long way in a short amount of time," he said. "I can't even really put it into perspective, because I don't really let my mind work like that, at least not right now. Right now, it's: 'Go, go, go.' So I can't really put it into words."

Myers starts in center

Wil Myers made his first appearance of the season in center field on Wednesday afternoon, flanked by fellow righty-hitting sluggers Franmil Reyes in right and Hunter Renfroe in left.

Myers won't play center with much regularity this season. But against certain tough left-handers -- like Arizona's Robbie Ray -- the Padres might try to load their lineup with Myers, Renfroe and Reyes. It helps that all three have done good things at the plate over the season's first week.

"It'll only be when the situation calls for it, and today was the best day to do it," Myers said.

Myers, who had a pinch-hit two-run homer Tuesday, hasn't started a game in center since the Padres' ill-fated 2015 experiment to use him there full-time. He struggled then, just like he struggled this year in Spring Training. But the circumstances are undeniably different.

This year, Myers might only see time in center field about once per week. When he does, he'll invariably be moved to left field if the Padres have a late lead. Manuel Margot would come off the bench to take over center.