Ready to Rumble in Rockies Road Opener
Ready to Rumble in Rockies Road Opener
Summary
Regardless of the results of last year’s opening day debacle, the Colorado Rockies are sticking with the script. Things didn’t end as badly as they started a year ago for the Rockies’ Ace Kyle Freeland, who will get the start again at the Opening Day event this season.
Opening Day is set to commence Friday in Tampa, Florida, for the Rockies as they face the Tampa Bay Rays at Steinbrenner Field, their temporary site until their new stadium is completed. Freeland will start against Rays right-handed pitcher Ryan Pepiot, who will replace their initial choice of Shane McClanahan, who is now starting the season on the injured list.
It will be a team-record fourth start for Freeland on Opening Day for the Rockies. In last year’s outing, he was torched for 10 runs against the D’Backs at Chase Field, and the year before that, for five runs against the LA Dodgers on Opening Day.
Freeland did finish last season on the uptick in his 21 starts, posting a 5-8 start with an ERA of 5.24, 85 strikeouts, and 26 walks. During his return from surgery with a right elbow strain, he went 5-5 with an ERA of 3.96 in 17 starts.
Not without a comeback story of his own, Rays’ initial starter Shane McClanahan was to return from his second Tommy John surgery to start his third Opening Day stint for the Rays. McClanahan did not pitch in 2024.
Instead, McClanahan was pulled for nerve irritation in his left triceps late Saturday afternoon. His debut in the big leagues came in 2021, where he recorded a 3.43 ERA with 141 strikeouts in 25 starts. He started the All-Star Game for the American League in his second season. In 28 starts that season, he finished a 2.54 ERA with 194 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings.
The Rockies will be the last team to take the field for the start of the 2025 season in the bottom of the first inning. The 26 other teams made their start the day before Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, while the LA Dodgers and Chicago Cubs started the regular season in Japan. The Opening Day home opener for the Rockies will be at Coors Field on April 4, 2025, at 1:10 PM MT.