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With Scott Diamond starting the year on the disabled list, it was only a matter of time before Vance Worley was pegged as the runner-up. He was a fairly high-profile acquisition, coming back from Philadelphia as part of the return for Ben Revere, and looking down the rest of our candidates there wasn't anyone better.
- Kevin Correia: If you're starting Corriea on Opening Day, you may as well just admit to a 55-win season before April.
- Mike Pelfrey: It's tough to give an Opening Day start to a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher who is fresh off of Tommy John surgery and who may not pitch like himself until July or August.
- Liam Hendriks: Barely a back-end guy for the rotation at this point in his career, although he could still wind up a #4.
- Cole De Vries: To be fair he was the best Twins pitcher not named Diamond last season. But entering camp he was a bit of an afterthought for the rotation. Not Opening Day material.
- Kyle Gibson: How amazing would this have been, if he'd made the roster? Maybe a bit of a slap in the face to all of the veterans on the roster, but we all know he's the most talented guy on this list.
- Samuel Deduno: After the WBC could he have been given the nod? No. But he probably would have made the rotation had he been healthy.
Year | Age | Tm | W | L | G | GS | IP | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | 22 | PHI | 1 | 1 | 1.38 | 5 | 2 | 13.0 | 0.923 | 5.5 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 8.3 |
2011 | 23 | PHI | 11 | 3 | 3.01 | 25 | 21 | 131.2 | 1.230 | 7.9 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 8.1 |
2012 | 24 | PHI | 6 | 9 | 4.20 | 23 | 23 | 133.0 | 1.511 | 10.4 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 7.2 |
3 Yrs | 18 | 13 | 3.50 | 53 | 46 | 277.2 | 1.351 | 9.0 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 7.7 | ||
162 Game Avg. | 12 | 9 | 3.50 | 36 | 32 | 191 | 1.351 | 9.0 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 7.7 |
Picking an Opening Day starter for a team that is likely to finish with somewhere between 65 and 75 wins is a bit academic. It's tradition, it's kind of fun to talk about, but the best part will be watching to see if Worley can manage to out-duel Justin Verlander on April 1st.
Just for fun, here is a list of Twins starters on Opening Day for the last 20 years. Enjoy!
- 2012: Carl Pavano
- 2011: Carl Pavano
- 2010: Scott Baker
- 2009: Francisco Liriano
- 2008: Livan Hernandez
- 2007: Johan Santana
- 2006: Johan Santana
- 2005: Brad Radke
- 2004: Brad Radke
- 2003: Brad Radke
- 2002: Brad Radke
- 2001: Brad Radke
- 2000: Brad Radke
- 1999: Brad Radke
- 1998: Bob Tewksbury
- 1997: Brad Radke
- 1996: Brad Radke
- 1995: Scott Erickson
- 1994: Kevin Tapani
- 1993: Kevin Tapani
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