Top Three Opening Day Pitching Match-Ups
by Andrew Pasquini
Baseball season is just around the corner with Opening Day happening this Sunday. Both Sunday and Monday will feature 15 games around the league and there's bound to be a few good games. Instead of just looking at the best match-ups for Opening Day, let's look at the best pitching match-ups the first two days of the season will offer.
Madison Bumgarner vs. Zack Greinke (Giants vs. Diamondbacks, Sunday at 4:10 PM EST)
With Sunday having the first batch of regular season games, the middle game will feature the best pitchers duel of the day. Bumgarner finished last season with a 15-9 record with a 2.74 ERA and 251 strikeouts while Greinke finished 13-7 with 134 strikeouts.
Corey Kluber vs. Yu Darvish (Indians vs. Rangers, Monday at 7:05 PM EST)
In a match-up between the defending American League champions and the team that finished with the best record in the American League last season, we will see two of the best pitchers in the AL go head to head. Kluber finished last year with a solid 18-9 record with 227 strikeouts and Darvish, who was hurt for part of the season, finished with a 7-5 record with an ERA of 3.41.
Felix Hernandez vs. Dallas Keuchel (Mariners vs. Astros, Monday at 8:10 PM EST)
Lastly, we have a match-up between two teams that could be considered favorites to win the AL with two pitchers that could win the Cy Young as well. Hernandez finished the 2016 season 11-8 with an ERA of 3.82 and 122 strikeouts and Keuchel, who won the Cy Young in 2015, is looking for a bounce back season after finishing 9-12 with an ERA of 4.55.
