List of Colorado Rockies Opening Day starting pitchers

Aaron Cook, the 2007 Opening Day starter

The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National League West division. The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season, ^[1] though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day. ^[2] The Rockies have used 20 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 28 seasons. Since the Rockies' first season in 1993, the 20 starters have a combined Opening Day record of eleven  wins, nine  losses (11–9), and eight  no decisions. No decisions are only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game. ^{[3] [4]}

Eight Rockies pitchers have started on two Opening Days: Kevin Ritz, Darryl Kile, Mike Hampton, Jason Jennings, Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jiménez, Jorge de la Rosa, and Jon Gray. Kile has the best Opening Day record with two wins and no losses. Armando Reynoso is the only Rockies pitcher to start on Opening Day in Colorado's former home of Mile High Stadium. Rockies starting pitchers have an Opening Day record of four wins, two losses, and one no decision when at home. With the exception of one lost game at Mile High Stadium, the other games were played at Colorado's current home stadium of Coors Field. On the road for Opening Day, Colorado starting pitchers have accumulated a record of seven wins, seven losses, and seven no decisions. The Rockies have a record of two wins and three losses on Opening Day for seasons in which they would later go on to participate in post-season play. ^[3]

The longest Opening Day winning streak for Rockies starting pitchers is three years, when Colorado won in 2004, 2005, and 2006, under three different pitchers, Shawn Estes, Joe Kennedy, and Jason Jennings. Rockies starters have lost twice in two consecutive years, once in 1993 and 1994, and once from 2002 to 2003. ^[3]

Key

Season	Each year is linked to an article about that particular Rockies season.
W	Win
L	Loss
ND (W)	No decision by starting pitcher; Rockies won game
ND (L)	No decision by starting pitcher; Rockies lost game
Pitcher (#)	Number of appearances as Opening Day starter with the Rockies
*	Advanced to the post-season
**	NL Champions

Pitchers

Season	Pitcher	Decision	Opponent	Location	Ref(s)
1993	David Nied	L	New York Mets	Shea Stadium	[3]
1994	Armando Reynoso	L	Philadelphia Phillies	Mile High Stadium	[3]
1995*	Bill Swift	W	New York Mets	Coors Field	[3]
1996	Kevin Ritz	ND (W)	Philadelphia Phillies	Veterans Stadium	[3]
1997	Kevin Ritz (2)	ND (L)	Cincinnati Reds	Riverfront Stadium	[3]
1998	Darryl Kile	W	Arizona Diamondbacks	Bank One Ballpark	[3]
1999	Darryl Kile (2)	W	San Diego Padres	Qualcomm Stadium	[3]
2000	Pedro Astacio	L	Atlanta Braves	Turner Field	[3]
2001	Mike Hampton	W	St. Louis Cardinals	Coors Field	[3]
2002	Mike Hampton (2)	L	St. Louis Cardinals	Busch Memorial Stadium	[3] [5]
2003	Jason Jennings	L	Houston Astros	Minute Maid Park	[3] [6]
2004	Shawn Estes	W	Arizona Diamondbacks	Bank One Ballpark	[3] [7]
2005	Joe Kennedy	W	San Diego Padres	Coors Field	[3] [8]
2006	Jason Jennings (2)	W	Arizona Diamondbacks	Coors Field	[3] [9]
2007**	Aaron Cook	L	Arizona Diamondbacks	Coors Field	[3] [10]
2008	Kip Wells	ND (W)	St. Louis Cardinals	Busch Stadium	[3] [11]
2009*	Aaron Cook (2)	ND (L)	Arizona Diamondbacks	Chase Field	[12]
2010	Ubaldo Jiménez	W	Milwaukee Brewers	Miller Park	[4]
2011	Ubaldo Jiménez (2)	ND (L)	Arizona Diamondbacks	Coors Field	[3]
2012	Jeremy Guthrie	W	Houston Astros	Minute Maid Park	[3]
2013	Jhoulys Chacín	ND (L)	Milwaukee Brewers	Miller Park	[3]
2014	Jorge De La Rosa	L	Miami Marlins	Marlins Park	[3]
2015	Kyle Kendrick	W	Milwaukee Brewers	Miller Park	[3]
2016	Jorge De La Rosa (2)	ND (W)	Arizona Diamondbacks	Chase Field	[3]
2017*	Jon Gray	ND (W)	Milwaukee Brewers	Miller Park	[3]
2018*	Jon Gray (2)	L	Arizona Diamondbacks	Chase Field	[3]
2019	Kyle Freeland	W	Miami Marlins	Marlins Park	[3]
2020	German Marquez	L	Texas Rangers	Globe Life Field	[3]
2021	German Marquez (2)	ND (W)	Los Angeles Dodgers	Coors Field	[3] [13]
2022	Kyle Freeland (2)	L	Los Angeles Dodgers	Coors Field	[3]
2023	German Marquez (3)		San Diego Padres	Petco Park	[3]

References

1. Bastian, Jordan (March 22, 2010). "Marcum tapped for Jays' Opening Day". MLB.com. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
2. Dilbeck, Steve (February 24, 2014). "Dodgers may not start Clayton Kershaw in Sydney". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
3. "Colorado Rockies Opening Day Starters and Results". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved April 10, 2021.
4. "Colorado 5, Milwaukee 3". Yahoo! . Retrieved 2010-04-06.
5. "Cardinals 10, Rockies 2". ESPN . Retrieved 2008-09-15.
6. "Kent slugs homer in first at-bat with Astros". ESPN . Retrieved 2008-09-15.
7. "Johnson gives up six hits, Estes just two". ESPN . Retrieved 2008-09-15.
8. "Rockies rally off Hoffman in ninth inning". ESPN . Retrieved 2008-09-15.
9. "Holliday, Rockies nip Diamondbacks in 11". ESPN . Retrieved 2008-09-15.
10. "D-Backs chase Rockies with three in 8th to prevail". ESPN . Retrieved 2008-09-15.
11. "Nix's bases-loaded walk caps off two-run eighth for Rockies". ESPN . Retrieved 2008-09-15.
12. "Instant offense: Lopez ignites D-backs (0-1)". Major League Baseball . Retrieved 2009-04-06.
13. "Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies Box Score, April 1, 2021". Baseball Reference. Retrieved April 10, 2021.