Dodgers Poll: Who is Your Opening Day Starter?
Just over one month til opening day, and only two days away (at the time) from the start of the Cactus League season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stated that the club had named an opening day starting pitcher for the 2020 season.
Tony Gonsolin will start Saturday. Alex Wood will start Sunday. Roberts says they’ve privately named an Opening Day starter but there is no sense in announcing it publicly.
— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) February 20, 2020
However, he didn’t elaborate beyond that. Instead, he opined that there would be no sense in announcing it publicly.
So on our Twitter account, we asked the question. Who will start opening day?
Dave Roberts says the Dodgers have privately named the Opening Day starter, but they won’t announce it yet.
Who do you think it is?
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) February 20, 2020
As one would imagine for the online crowd, 25-year-old Walker Buehler is leading the poll in a landslide. Still, users spoke on the question.
It needs to be Buehler. The torch has been passed already, and he's clearly the Dodgers current ace. Kersh has to accept that he's a #2 now, and at this point in his career, that's nothing to be ashamed of.
— BSB (@BBorbz) February 20, 2020
Buehler is clearly the better current pitcher with much better stuff. Look at their peripheral numbers last year and they spell further regression for Kershaw and even more improvement for Buehler
— BSB (@BBorbz) February 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/kevinrhaggerty/status/1230568820248584192
Given the opponent, this user offers an easy solution:
Let history decide who to open up our season against the H8TED ONES: pic.twitter.com/7ULmx5ISOR
— DividendDougNation (@DivDougNation) February 20, 2020
One of the better answers came from @kanten_blue
Russel Martin
— ????? (@kanten_blue) February 20, 2020
When two people use different words to say the same thing:
https://twitter.com/arimyles02/status/1230569821302951936
I want it to be Buehler but I know it’ll be kershaw
— Adje (@Adjetehninja) February 21, 2020
Where do you stand on the subject? Sound off in the comments below! Feel free to share your work.
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For the sake of the Dodgers season and playoffs I hope it is Buehler because in my mind that shows that Roberts is willing to acknowledge that he will not rely on Kershaw in the playoffs like he has in the past with an undying devotion. Kershaw is possibly my favorite Dodger of all time, but the torch has passed.
Fire Dave Roberts. Dodgers did great last year they did not get behind in the standings like they did badly a year ago. Roberts makes wrong crital decisions! They need to get rid of pitchers – Dustin May, Pedro Baez and Joe Kelly. Joe Kelly needs to not be chewing gum so much! They need to keep Jic Pederson.
If there is any loyalty left in this game or team and any reward for a decade of greatness, It’s Kershaw to open again. Let’s see if Dodger Blue still means anything.
I would hope it would be Kershaw. First off, he did have a better year than Walker; though they both had good years. And ,he being the torchbearer for years, it would be common courtesy. Also, the very fact that it is the Giants is huge since they have traditionally struggled against him.
Neither Kershaw or Buehler pitched on opening day last year, because they both had shoulder issues. Ryu got the start and went on to have a Cy Young caliber year. My suggestion for the 2020 opener is to pitch the guy that’s healthy and most prepared to go at that time. There is no reason to even talk about it until a few days before the actual game.
If everyone’s healthy and ready to go, I give the nod to Kershaw as the best pitcher of his generation, instant HOFer, and team leader. And I do it year after year, until he retires, even as the numbers fade. If it’s crunch time in the postseason, or leading up to it, I go with Buehler. Opening day is ceremonial. The postseason is survival, and hopefully, a long awaited WS title.
The season will not be won or lost by who starts on opening day. Throw Ross Stripling up there and fake everybody out!
Is competition dead? Does Roberts also know the starting 8 and batting order? Why have spring training if decisions are already made? So it does not matter if a pitcher has a great spring. What is the reward? Not the starting day assignment. Guess I was wrong in my belief that the purpose of a competitive event was to win and in order to do that you should go with your best bet to do that. Rewarding for past performance as opposed to your best option does not seem to be to be a model for success.
I personally think that Kershaw had a pretty good “off” year and that he is still your man until he proves that he has really lost it. His ERA was still just over 3.00 and he still won 16 games despite missing those starts. What in heck is wrong with starting Buehler second and picking up two wins.
I don’t see, nor have I ever seen, a manager who hasn’t lost a game, or made a bad decision or more. I haven’t always understood nor liked some of Roberts decisions, but how can you say or justify “getting rid of” a manager who has won despite having so much talent (and egos), giving everyone an opportunity to crack that lineup and play to their potential. I think that’s what makes our Dodgers elite and fun to watch, but we’re a spoiled lot, used to winning and producing great players, coaches and managers. I have been a “Dodger Diehard” ever since I was a kid (in the late fifties) and have only know three managers, Alston, Lasorda and now Dave Roberts. That’s over 60 years of being entertained by some of the greatest teams in baseball history. We’re so used to winning that losing is (almost) not an option, and managing the caliber of players this organization keeps producing, can’t be easy. So I say “Go Dodger Blue” until I die, and leave the coaching and managing to those chosen by this Great Organization. I can almost see Roberts becoming the winningest (if there is such a word) managers in Dodger history, and that would include winning many World Series. Thank you Dodgers for so many great memories, and I count it all joy. You can’t really enjoy and appreciate winning without losing a few…right? ?