It’s opening night. Baseball is finally back. The long wait is over. Clayton Kershaw made his 9th start on the opening day for the Los Angeles Dodgers. No, Kershaw was placed on the IL again. Dustin May made the first opening day start in his career and he did a great job against the Giants.
From 2011 to 2018, Kershaw was named the opening day starter 8 straight times. Last year, Kershaw was out for the opening day due to shoulder discomfort.
It’s always a great honor for a pitcher to be named opening day starter. From 2000 to 2009, the Dodgers had 6 pitchers to start on the opening day. 6-time All-Star Kevin Brown started twice for the Dodgers on opening day and he was also the opening day starter in 1999. Hideo Nomo made two consecutive opening day starts in 2003 and 2004. 2-time All-Star Derek Lowe made 3 straight opening day starts from 2005 to 2007. Chan Ho Park, Brad Penny and Hiroki Kuroda each made 1 opening day start.
In the last decade, Vicente Padilla was the opening day starter in 2010 and Hyun-Jin Ryu started on the opening day last season. And Kershaw made the other 8 opening day starts last decade. He was supposed to finish the first opening day start this decade, but he’s injured, unfortunately.
Tossing a shutout on the opening day is definitely a great way to start the season. Kershaw tossed a shutout on the opening day in 2013 with 7 strikeouts, meanwhile he also hit a solo shot to help the Dodgers secure a win. The other opening day shutout between 2000 and 2020 was Hideo Nomo’s shutout in 2003. It was a very big game for Nomo, he started the game against Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. Nomo threw 103 pitches, struck out 7 times, allowing only four hits and a walk.
It’s also interesting to see that Derek Lowe took three straight losses on the opening day from 2005 to 2007. In these 3 starts, he threw 16 innings in total, giving up 25 hits and allowing 17 runs (15 earned runs). The 2-time All-Star just didn’t look to be a good option on the opening day.
Kershaw is no doubt a very trustworthy guy on the opening day, in his 8 starts, the Dodgers only lost 1 game. He has a 1.05 ERA on opening day and has allowed multiple runs just twice.
Baseball is really back. Yes, finally. Kershaw didn’t make another start on the opening day. However, Dustin May got the job done today. He was just optioned to alternate training site on July 22, but he is ready when the team needs him and he is solid on the mound today. He struck out 4 over 4 1/3 innings, allowing only one run on seven hits. The Los Angeles Dodgers are loaded with good pitchers and pitching prospects. It’s going to be really hard to tell if Clayton Kershaw will start on the opening day again. We can only wait till the next opening day. Nevertheless, it’s great that baseball returns, a shortened season and an expanded post-season.
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