Diamondbacks: Greinke to Start on Opening Day
On Wednesday, manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chip Hale, announced that newly acquired pitcher, Zack Greinke, will be the opening day starter for the Diamondbacks in 2016.
When the Diamondbacks surprisingly signed Greinke in free agency, it seemed all but a given that he would be given the reins to lead the pitching rotation.
Greinke will get the ball on opening day for the first time since 2010 and look to build off of a terrific 2015 campaign with the Los Angeles Dodgers in which Greinke finished 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA. Greinke’s best season of his career was good enough to help him land a 6-year, $206.5 million deal with the Diamondbacks.
“Zack will be our Opening Day starter,” Hale said. “He’ll be our No. 1, obviously. After that, we’ll look at the matchups throughout the first month and try to match it up as best we can.”
It is fair to believe that Greinke will not be able to maintain his extremely low ERA this year when he calls Chase Field, a hitter-friendly ballpark, his friendly confines. Regardless, Diamondbacks fans don’t need to worry about having their “ace” and Opening Day starter be Josh Collmenter any longer.
Greinke joins Patrick Corbin and Shelby Miller, whom the Diamondbacks also acquired this offseason, as a formidable 1-2-3 punch. Greinke and Miller add stability to a shaky pitching rotation moving the Diamondbacks from an average ball-club to a possibly playoff contender.
The offensive numbers were definitely there for the Diamondbacks in 2015 with the team scoring 720 runs, good enough for second in the National League. With this newly-found pitching rotation, Diamondbacks fans have a lot to be excited about when baseball season rolls around in April.
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With three of the five rotation spots all but locked up, the focus turns to Spring Training for the final two starting rotation spots. Candidates for the spots include: Rubby De La Rosa, Robbie Ray, Archie Bradley, and Zack Godley. De La Rosa and Ray seem to have the upper-hand on Bradley and Godley however due to last season’s performance for the Diamondbacks.
Godley seems like a potential dark-horse option for the rotation however. Godley went 5-1 with a 3.19 ERA in 10 starts for the Diamondbacks after an extremely smooth transition to the major leagues after sustained success in the minors.
Next: Devin Booker Shines at All-Star Weekend
Pitchers and catchers have begun to report to spring training in Arizona and Florida, which means Major League Baseball action is just around the corner… finally.