Zack Greinke named Royals Opening Day starter
Daniel Lynch will also begin the season on the IL.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro tabbed Zack Greinke to be his Opening Day starter for the season opener on March 30 against the Minnesota Twins. It will be the second year in a row that Greinke has started the opener, and third time overall that Greinke has started on Royals Opening Day. Pablo López will get the starting assignment for the Twins. Brady Singer might have been a candidate to start the opener, but his time serving on Team USA in the World Baseball Classic may have cost him a chance to build up his innings this spring.
Zack Greinke said "it's nice" to be named the Opening Day starter again. He thought it would be a tough decision between him and Brady Singer. And Greinke still thinks Singer was worthy of the nod if innings weren't a factor. #Royals pic.twitter.com/aqP2L0BmyO
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) March 24, 2023
The rest of the starting rotation is still unknown, but will likely include Brady Singer and Jordan Lyles. Brad Keller should have an inside track at a rotation spot. Daniel Lynch was a rotation candidate, but suffered a left shoulder strain in his start last night and will begin the season on the Injured List. That likely creates an opening for Kris Bubic or possibly Ryan Yarbrough in the rotation.
The 39-year old Greinke will be the oldest Opening Day starter in club history. He gave up just one run in 5 2⁄3 innings in a 3-1 win over Cleveland last year. Greinke becomes the to start at least three season openers for the Royals, joining Kevin Appier (seven), Dennis Leonard (four), and Paul Splittorff, Bud Black, Bret Saberhagen, Jeff Suppan, Gil Meche, and Danny Duffy (three).
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, 2022-2023
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