Of course Ron Gardenhire wants Jordan Zimmermann to start Opening Day
Someone has to start Opening Day for the Detroit Tigers, so it might as well be Jordan Zimmermann.
The Detroit Tigers are not in a position to be choosy, coming off a 98-loss season, and someone has to start Opening Day. On Saturday, manager Ron Gardenhire announced Jordan Zimmermann will get the nod March 29 at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Zimmermann had a miserable season in 2017, with career-worsts in ERA (6.08), WHIP (1.55) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.34) over 29 starts (160 innings). Over two seasons with the Tigers, after signing a five-year, $110 million deal in free agency, he has a 5.60 ERA over 48 appearances (47 starts) with a 5.7 K/9 rate and a 4.88 FIP.
Former American League Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer would be a better candidate to start Opening Day for the Tigers. But he’s been battling a sore elbow off and on this spring, and caution is the word right now.
Even with Fulmer’s elbow issue in mind, Zimmerman getting the Opening Day start for Detroit is a surprise. Count Zimmermann among those who are surprised about it.
Zimmermann on Michael Fulmer: "He probably deserved it more than me. I was, I guess, a little shocked. He has his days coming. He's going to start plenty of Opening Days."
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) March 18, 2018
On the flip side, Gardenhire sees the decision as perfectly rational.
“Zimmermann’s the veteran guy here,” Gardenhire told Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. “To me, he’s the leader of this group and I think he should have the ball.”
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Only Gardenhire would see an intangible of Zimmermann being the “leader” of the Tigers’ starting rotation, and have that make him deserving of the opportunity to start on Opening Day. But it’s not like there are a lot of options, with Mike Fiers, Francisco Liriano, Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd the others in line to fill rotation spots. So Zimmermann, healthy and with a good track record before landing with the Tigers, will be the guy by default.