Ken Rosenthal, who has been sidelined since mid-February after undergoing back surgery, has returned to The Athletic just in time for Opening Day. His return piece published late last night and assured subscribers that he hadn’t spent the entirety of his recovering binge-watching the Winter Olympics and March Madness.

Rosenthal offered a thank-you for those who offered kind words and support during his absence.

The Athletic ramped up its baseball coverage right before Rosenthal’s operation, bringing in Jayson Stark and Emma Span, as well as expanding  to more MLB markets. The hardest thing about missing time around there must be falling behind on the big map of imperialism we all assume exists at headquarters. A guy out for a few weeks is bound to come back and see red push pins in far-flung places like Minsk, Riyadh, and Topeka and wonder when the heck those local sites launched.