MLB Teams Using Openers

Quality Start History

Baseball is one of the world’s oldest games. With reports of baseball as early as the late 1700s/early 1800s, baseball is much older than the other major sports in America. In 1985, the term “Quality Start” was first introduced. This term was later adopted as an official stat by Major League Baseball and is given to a pitcher that starts a game and pitches at least 6 innings while giving up 3 or less earned runs. Ever since, professional teams have been scouting and signing starting pitchers with the goal of them earning as many quality starts as possible.

Photo by Jose Francisco Morales on Unsplash

Strategy Change

Baseball teams have used the same strategy for starting pitchers for years. That is until the Tampa Bay Rays changed everything last year (2017-18). The “opener” strategy relies on starting a pitcher for 1 to 3 innings then moving on to another pitcher with no goal of earning a Quality Start. On May 19th, the Rays started career relief pitcher Sergio Romo against the Angels, who went on to throw 1 inning, and haven’t looked back. After the debut of the opener strategy, the Rays went on to assign 50 starts to 8 relief pitchers who pitched between 1 and 3 innings. On July 23rd, they fully committed to the opener strategy by putting CY Young award winning starting pitcher Blake Snell on the Disabled List and traded fellow starts Nathan Eovaldi and Chris Archer. After trying a strategy like nothing baseballs ever seen before, the Rays finished the season with a record of 90-72 and nearly made the playoffs.

Baseballs Reaction

So what now? How does baseball react? Some teams have jumped on board with the idea. The A’s, Blue Jays, Orioles, Pirates, and Twins among other teams have all mentioned considering the idea for this upcoming season. Others aren’t as open to the idea. Starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner has stated that if his San Francisco Giants use the opener strategy then he’s “going to walk”. What are your thoughts on this strategy? Would you want your favorite team to use an opener or are you more a baseball traditionalist? Let us know!