Who Will Be the Pirates Opening Day Starter?
It is an honor that has been bestowed on pitchers year after year. The Opening Day starter is a big role as they are the ones to get the ball rolling and set the tone for the rest of the season. A great start can get a pitching staff going and give a team momentum going into the year. However, a slip-up could lead to the team being behind the eight ball and having to play catch up throughout the season. However, here we are on March 29th, just three days before Opening Day, and Manager Derek Shelton has yet to announce his Opening Day starter. Nobody on the Pirate's current roster has ever been named an Opening Day starter, but the Pirates are looking for someone to step up and get this young team some momentum.
Last season, it was Joe Musgrove who got the call on Opening Day and he gave the Pirates a quality start, allowing three earned runs over five innings of work. The year before that, Jameson Taillon took the hill and he did not have as much success, lasting four innings and giving up three earned runs. However, both of those guys are gone, so the Pirates will have a third different Opening Day starter in 2021. With the way the rotation has played out over the last couple of Grapefruit League games, it seems to have come down to three pitchers for the spot. Chad Kuhl, Tyler Anderson, and Trevor Cahill are the only three pitchers who will be on five days' rest on April 1st. We look at these three pitchers' qualifications and who might take the hill against the Chicago Cubs for game one of the 2021 season.
RHP Chad Kuhl
If I were the one making the decisions for the Pirates, Chad Kuhl would be the guy I turn to on Opening Day. He battled back from Tommy John surgery in 2020 and is the only starter on the Pirates roster who has spent a full season in the Pirate's starting rotation. His return was well received by the Pirates in 2020, as he went 2-3 with a 4.27 ERA in 11 games, nine starts. He started the year as the second half of a piggyback start with Steven Brault, but eventually battled his way into the Pirates rotation. His fastball velocity seemed to be back as he was regularly hitting 95 mph, and he was able to strike out 44 batters in his 46.1 innings of work.
He missed some time this spring because of the birth of his first son, but he has put in good work so far. In four starts this spring, he is putting together a strong campaign, going 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA over eight innings of work. In his latest start against the Boston Red Sox, he lasted two innings and gave up one run on two hits while walking two and striking out two. He was pulled because of where the Pirates were in the lineup and went to finish his day on the backfield with four more innings in the bullpen. Kuhl would be on regular five days rest on April 1st, and as the longest-tenured member of the Pirates starting rotation he may be the one to get the call.
LHP Tyler Anderson
If the Pirates would rather go with experience over tenure on the Pirates, they may turn to Tyler Anderson for the game one start. Anderson has spent the last five years between the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants and during that time has never been his team's Opening Day starter. The 2020 season was a big one for Anderson as he was coming back from knee surgery that forced him to miss nearly the entire 2019 season. He was determined to show that he was back and could still pitch a strong game. He put up decent numbers going 4-3 with a 4.37 ERA over 13 games, 11 starts, spanning 59.2 innings of work. He has a good feel for the strike zone as he walked just 9.6% of batters he faced last season.
So far this spring, Anderson has had an up and down showing so far for Pittsburgh. Over his first two starts, he allowed six earned runs over five innings of work and had his ERA up at 10.80. However, over his final three starts of spring, he put together solid outings lasting at least four innings each time and allowing four earned runs over 13 innings of work, good for a 2.76 ERA. His spring ERA has since dropped to 5.00 and has dropped his opponent batting average to .293. Anderson may also benefit from getting the chance to throw in pitcher-friendly PNC Park in 2021 rather than hitter-friendly Coors Field for most of his career. The Pirates are looking for someone to eat innings, and Anderson may be the guy to lead the way for the Pirates this season.
RHP Trevor Cahill
The elder statesman of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff in 2021, is one of the team's newest additions. Trevor Cahill was signed by the Pirates on March 12th, 2021, and brings with him 12 years of Big League experience. He has held roles both as a starter and in the bullpen, and the biggest example of this was last season when he pitched with Anderson and the San Francisco Giants. Cahill appeared in 11 games, and made six starts, and went 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA. After starting the year as a starter and went 0-1 with a 4.05 ERA. However, when he moved back to the bullpen, he was unscored upon in five appearances and showed that at 32-years-old he still could be an effective pitcher.
The problem with having Cahill start on Opening Day is that he has yet to be stretched out and has only made two relief appearances. However, Greg Brown and Matt Capps made an interesting point on-air as to how the Pirates could use Cahill on Opening Day. They said that Cahill and Anderson could be used as a piggyback start for the first game of the season. With Cahill not being totally stretched out, it would allow Cahill to pitch two or three innings and then allow Anderson to come in to bridge the gap to the back-end of the bullpen. It is an interesting theory, and it might work to get Cahill on the mound for the Pirates on Opening Day.
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