Zack Greinke named Royals Opening Day starter
It will be his second Opening Day start for Kansas City
Royals manager Mike Matheny named Zack Greinke his starter for the season opener on April 7 at home against Cleveland. It will be the sixth Opening Day start for Greinke, but just his second in a Royals uniform, the last one coming in 2010. According to Elias Sports and reporter Sarah Langs, the 12-year gap is the longest between Opening Day starts for the same club.
Zack Greinke's other Opening Day start for the Royals was April 5, 2010 vs the Tigers
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 30, 2022
Starting lineups from that one ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Y6AEe9DmPz
At age 38, Greinke will be the oldest Opening Day starter in Royals history, according to Anne Rogers, surpassing 36-year old Tim Belcher in 1998. Greinke signed a one-year, $13 million deal to return to the Royals after winning 11 games with a 4.16 ERA in 171 innings for the Astros last season.
Matheny has yet to name the rest of his rotation, but likely candidates include Brad Keller, Brady Singer, Carlos Hernández, Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic, and Jackson Kowar. The club may also go to a six-man rotation to ease pitchers into the season following a shortened spring training.
Royals Opening Day starters:
Wally Bunker 1969-1970
Dick Drago 1971-1972
Steve Busby 1973, 1975
Paul Splittorff 1974, 1976-1977
Dennis Leonard 1978-1980, 1982
Larry Gura 1981, 1983
Bud Black 1984-1986
Danny Jackson 1987
Bret Saberhagen 1988, 1990-1991
Mark Gubicza 1989
Kevin Appier 1992-1997, 1999
Tim Belcher 1998
Jeff Suppan 2000-2002
Runelvys Hernandez 2003
Brian Anderson 2004
Jose Lima 2005
Scott Elarton 2006
Gil Meche 2007-2009
Zack Greinke 2010, 2022
Luke Hochevar 2011
Bruce Chen 2012
James Shields 2013-2014
Yordano Ventura 2015
Edinson Volquez 2016
Danny Duffy 2017-2018, 2020
Brad Keller 2019, 2021