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It has been announced that Aaron Harang will be making the Opening Day start again. It’s the fifth straight year that the big guy will be on the hill for Cincinnati’s unofficial holiday game.
Only three other Reds have started five straight Opening Days: Pete Donohue, Mario Soto, and Jimmy Haynes. Wait…what? Maybe there are only two other pitchers who have accomplished that feat in Reds history.
(If Jimmy Haynes had started five straight Opening Days, this blog wouldn’t exist because I would’ve already jumped off a bridge.)
I think Harang is the best choice for opening day starter. As I pointed out last month, Harang’s numbers over his first 10-12 games each of the last two years have been very ace-like.
Plus, the article says that Harang wants the ball on day one, and Arroyo isn’t interested on being the “#1 guy”.
It is interesting that Arroyo is number 3, splitting up Cueto and Bailey.
The opening series matchup is likely:
Harang vs Carpenter
Cueto vs Wainwright
Arroyo vs Cards #3 (Lohse?)
Good for Aaron.
Wow, another Jimmy Haynes reference. We have had a lot of those recently.
Much ado about nothing…IMO. Did anyone think it would be Cueto or Bailey? Arroyo said he didn’t want it.
I wouldn’t exactly say this is “much ado”. I don’t think anyone is really passionate one way or the other about this. Although, I don’t see the point in announcing it this early. Why not let everyone get in and pitch a little first. Either way, no big deal. Hopefully Harang will return to his ace-like ways on the mound.
@RiverCity Redleg: I think it might be a way to let Harang know that even though he’s had a couple of rough seasons the bigwigs still have confidence in him and his stuff. Kinda like a pat on the back.
@hoosierdad: which I’m fine with. I like Harang and expect a big resurgence this year.
Jimmy Haynes FTW! Dessens and Haynes in the rotation…how did we not win the championship?!
@De_Here: Ah, Dessens.. the most famous Elmer since Fudd and the guy that invented glue!
Arroyo doesn’t want it because he’ll get more wins in a contract year going against #3 starters as opposed to #1 starters.
Harang simply is not the ace of this staff any more. The opening day starter goes to the guy that gives you the best chance to win against another team’s ace. That my friends is not Harang.
I don’t think I agree with this one. If Harang is healthy, I think he gives us the best chance of winning. Also, I think that Opening Day starter is more of an honor thing than anything else. Over the course of a season how often do your number one’s match up anyway?
@preach:
Exactly. I like this gesture for Harang, and without an obvious ace in the rotation there isn’t reason enough to take it away.
Hopefully, he’ll live up to it and have a great season.
For once, Dusty’s own comment explains a decision. He said he spoke with both pitchers, that says it all. Harang was eager to do it. Arroyo doesn’t like pitching day games, it interferes with his social life. Dusty also added a sensible statement: “After Game 1 it doesn’t matter anyway.”
@preach: @pinson343: The essence of both of your statements, if I understand you correctly, is that ‘after game 1 it doesn’t matter.’ If anything you should question your reasoning when that reasoning is the same as Dusty Baker’s.
Arroyo gives the Reds the best chance to win against Carpenter, period. There’s no room in baseball for sentimentality. The Reds cannot afford to lose a game because they thought it was nice to have Harang continue his opening day streak. Frankly, Dusty Baker asking Arroyo and Arroyo saying no is reason to question both of their desires to win.
Yeah, it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. There’s 162 games. It’s not like the NFL where EVERY game really counts. It’s just really cool to get the opening day win, that’s all.
That said, I’m totally fine with Harang and would’ve been surprised if anybody else got the nod. It’s a vote of confidence and respect, something he could really use right now, more than likely. Plus, he’s been there many times before.
Still, what’s the need in announcing something like that so early. Regardless of the fact that spring training doesn’t mean a whole lot for veterans who are basically there to just work on stuff and get in shape, what if he’s ridiculously horrible this spring, and Cueto or Bailey barely get touched?
In that case, I MIGHT change my mind. Even so, probably not.
@david: What makes you say that Arroyo has a better chance to beat Carpenter? I noticed their career splits against St Louis are nearly identical in 20 starts each, and Harang had better results than Arroyo vs. St Louis in 2009.
@preach:
I could go the rest of my life without any Jimmy Haynes references.
Forget J**** H*****. Remember the great season that Wilson, Milton, and Ortiz were presented as suitable #1-2-3 starters.
@david: EXACTLY. A poor, poor choice but I expect it from Dusty.
Wait a minute, there is a logical, sentimental-less reason that Harang has been the opening day starter for as long as he has: He’s good. He is also healthy this season, which was missing a lot of last season. Arroyo eats innings, and Harang dominates. That’s what they do when healthy. How you can call him a poor choice escapes me.
And there is room for sentimentality in baseball. It’s actually what makes this game great over the course of a terribly long season.
And if we go with probabilities of winning a series, then I would think you would be on board with starting a ‘poor choice’ against an ace to leave our best two pitchers to pitch against the 2 and 3 starters from a team. I think mathmatically the odds would favor us winning the series. I could very well be wrong on that assumption…..maybe it’s just my sentimentality getting in the way.
Harang is still the number one starter on this team when healthy.
I anxiously wait for next year when Homer Bailey is the #1 starter.
@david: Because of things like his preferring to pitch nite games and his willingness to remove himself from a game, a lot of people have in fact questioned Arroyo’s desire to win. After watching him pitch these last few years, I would never do that.
My going along with Harang as the opening day starter is in part based on my view that they’re co-aces at this point, we don’t really have an ace. In any case it’s just a matter of how they’re slotted within a rotation, Arroyo is not having a start taken away. I think Dusty’s approach of talking with both of them about it before making a decision was reasonable.
On another level, there’s nothing that says starting your ace (if we had one) against the other team’s ace is the best strategy. Steve had a nice statement about this on another thread. And Dusty’s right, after game 1 it doesn’t matter. After game 1, the starting day pitcher goes to the end of the line, that’s why it’s called a rotation.
From John Fay’s blog:
“I’d rather enjoy that day and soak in all the festivities,” Arroyo said, “then pitch the next day or the day after that. It’s not a big deal for me to pitch in the 1 hole. I pitched in the 5 hole in Boston. I ended up throwing against five No. 1s in one season. Once you get a rainout, one off day, somebody’s a little sore and they get bumped back a day, matchups don’t matter — until you get to the playoffs.”
Fay goes on: “And Arroyo said again that he thinks Harang is better suited for the start.”
The guy is honest and smart. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about winning, he wants to win as much as anyone.
@pinson343: “I’d rather enjoy that day and soak in the festivities” ???? Is his band kicking off the season that afternoon?
@david: And the implication is ? Bronson’s honest, but he’s also smart. You want him instead to whine about how this other guy is starting on opening day and I’m not ? The decision had been made by then.