I know it doesn’t feel like it, what with being dumped with two feet of snow here in the Northeast and all, but Opening Day is right around the corner. Seriously, we’re so close. Now, we can get even more of a taste of that sweet, sweet meaningful baseball after John Farrell named his Opening Day starter. That starter will be....
Okay, this isn’t all that surprising. As I discussed about six weeks ago, Porcello is the reigning Cy Young award winner and the Opening Day start is mostly a symbolic gesture. This doesn’t mean that Porcello is the best starter on the team, or that the Red Sox think that’s the case. I think most reasonable people would say that’s going to be Chris Sale. I would even say David Price is going to be better this year, although I’m obviously more skeptical about that with Price’s injury concerns.
So, with Porcello going on April 3, that would line Sale up for the second start of the year which also happens to be Rick Porcello bobblehead day. Funny how that works out. It’s unclear how the rest of the rotation lines up, but my guess at this moment in time is that Steven Wright will start the final game of the series against Pittsburgh with Eduardo Rodriguez and Drew Pomeranz rounding out the rotation in that order.
This decision to start Porcello on Opening Day also serves as a reminder of the unsteadiness Boston has had at the top of their rotation in recent years. The 2016 AL Cy Young winner will be the team’s fourth Opening Day starter in the last four years. Starting from last year, David Price, Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester have been the others. This comes after Lester started four straight Opening Days. Something tells me Sale will get that gig next year, but stranger things have happened.
Either way, Porcello will be getting the start on April 3, a day that can’t come fast enough. Did they make the right choice?