Opening Day 2015: Paging Kyle Kendrick, Drew Hutchison
While managers like Don Mattingly of the Dodgers or Lloyd McClendon of the Mariners have no hesitations marching Clayton Kershaw or Felix Hernandez out on Opening Day 2015 no matter the competition, not every MLB ball club has the luxury of being able to lean on a world class arm. An Opening Day start is not necessarily a given manager touting that starter the ace for the upcoming season. In many instances, it’s simply the foresight of having a strategy in place.
Such is the case with Kyle Kendrick of the Colorado Rockies and Drew Hutchison of the Toronto Blue Jays. That’s not to say an Opening Day start should be overlooked, because any pitcher would undoubtedly still view the opportunity as an honor. But to call Kendrick an ace, or even one in the making, is a far cry from sanity.
Kendrick has been in the league since 2007. He’s entering his age 30 season, so it’s possible his best days are ahead of him. But it’s probable that he will never amount to much more than his 4.42 career ERA or better than a few additional wins beyond his personal best of 11 in one season. Especially now that Kendrick finds himself pitching his home games at the unforgiving Coors Field. So why has manager Walt Weiss tabbed him their Opening Day starter for 2015?
It’s pretty simple, really. After Kendrick and Jorge De La Rosa, the Rockies rotation options are really sparse. The club just released former ace Jhoulys Chacin, who is only 27 and went 14-10 with a 3.47 ERA for them as little as two seasons ago. The fact that Rockies management thinks some guy named Christian Bergman is a better rotation option tells you there will be tough times ahead once again off the mound for Colorado in 2015. Bergman has a career ERA of 5.93 in 54.2 MLB innings pitched.
But back to Kendrick and Opening Day. It’s the lesser of two evils. The Rockies start the season on the road in Milwaukee at Miller Park. Kendrick has a career ERA of 4.11 in that park, compared to 5.26 at Coors Field. Meanwhile, De La Rosa is actually better in his career with a 3.98 ERA at Coors Field, compared to an overall career ERA of 4.60. He will start the Home Opener on April 10 versus the Chicago Cubs.
For Hutchison and the Blue Jays, the 24-year old definitely flashed some ace potential in his 2014 season. But that’s not why manager John Gibbons could roll with the right-hander on Opening Day 2015. Other factors are to be considered.
The Jays open on the road against the Yankees. Marcus Stroman is no longer an option to start any game in 2015. Mark Buehrle was their best starter over the entire year last season, but the Yankees had his number the whole way. Buehrle went 0-4 with a 6.38 ERA in five starts against the Bronx Bombers in 2014. Hutchison was actually better on the road last year (4.33 ERA vs. 4.73 ERA at home) and he handled New York’s lineup relatively well and saw them enough in six starts that he knows what to expect. He managed quality starts against them on July 26 and again on August 30.
With young talents Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris having only one career start between the two of them, it would be a bit premature to name either as an Opening Day starter. Former Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey faced the Yankees only twice last season. He pitched relatively well, but staples in the Yankees’ lineup such as Jacoby Ellsbury (.333) and Alex Rodriguez (.364) have hit Dickey’s knuckle ball fairly hard throughout their careers.
Hutchison’s ace potential was apparent more than in any other game last year on August 6. Against the defending AL East champion Baltimore Orioles, he came one out away from recording a complete game win having allowed only a single earned run. What’s more, that single run was a solo shot given up to Chris Davis in the second inning. It was the only hit Hutchison surrendered all game, narrowly missing a no-hitter. His final line that day was 8.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB and 8 SOs.
While it’s odd to see two pitcher’s with career ERA’s currently well north of 4.00 being the front-runners for Opening Day 2015 starts, clubs without the luxury of a true ace have to play their cards right in terms of match ups and ball park factors. Kyle Kendrick will never be a true ace and Drew Hutchison appears to be at least a few seasons away, but the honor of achieving a first-time Opening Day start will no doubt be something the two remember for all of their lives.