List of Miami Marlins Opening Day starting pitchers

Last updated

Hard Rock Stadium, the Marlins former home ballpark from 1993-2011 Marlins 2008 001.jpg
Hard Rock Stadium, the Marlins former home ballpark from 1993-2011

The Miami Marlins are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Miami, Florida. They play in the National League East 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 Marlins have used 17 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 27 seasons. Since the Marlins' first season in 1993, the 17 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 12  wins and 14  losses with two no-decisions. Notably, no Marlins Opening Day starter received a no-decision until the team's 24th season in 2016. [3] [4] [5] No-decisions are only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game. [6]

Contents

Nine Marlins pitchers have started on two or more Opening Days. [3] Those nine are Charlie Hough, Kevin Brown, Alex Fernandez, Ryan Dempster, Josh Beckett, Dontrelle Willis, Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, and José Ureña. [3] Beckett and Johnson hold the record for most Opening Day starts as a Marlin, with three appearances each, from 2003 to 2005 for Beckett and 2010 to 2012 for Johnson. [3] When playing at their original home field, the venue now known as Hard Rock Stadium, the Marlins had a record of nine wins and five losses (9–5). [3] At their current home of Marlins Park, Opening Day pitchers have a record of 1–5 with one no-decision. [3] In the franchise's history, the Marlins have only played Opening Day games at another team's home stadium eight times. [3] As the away team, Marlins' starting pitchers have an Opening Day record of 1–6 with one no-decision. [3]

The longest ever Opening Day winning streak for Marlins starting pitchers is four years, when Florida won from 1997 to 2000 under starting pitchers Kevin Brown (1997), Liván Hernández (1998), and Alex Fernandez (1999 and 2000). [3] This streak was sandwiched by the Marlins' two longest Opening Day losing streaks for starting pitchers, each at three losses. The first was in 1994, 1995, and 1996 under starting pitchers Charlie Hough (1994), John Burkett (1995), and Kevin Brown (1996); the second was in 2001, 2002, and 2003 under Ryan Dempster (2001 and 2002) and Josh Beckett (2003) [3] The Marlins have won the World Series twice, in 1997 and 2003, and in those seasons, their starting pitchers had one win and one loss on Opening Day. [3]

Key

Ricky Nolasco, the 2009 opening day starter Ricky Nolasco Marlins.JPG
Ricky Nolasco, the 2009 opening day starter
Mark Hendrickson, the 2008 Opening Day starter MarkHendrickson.jpg
Mark Hendrickson, the 2008 Opening Day starter
Dontrelle Willis, the 2006 and 2007 Opening Day starter DontrelleWillis.jpg
Dontrelle Willis, the 2006 and 2007 Opening Day starter
Sandy Alcantara, the 2020-23 Opening Day starter Sandy Alcantara 8.11.21.jpg
Sandy Alcántara, the 2020–23 Opening Day starter
SeasonEach year is linked to an article about that particular Marlins season.
WWin
LLoss
ND (W) No decision by starting pitcher; Marlins won game
ND (L)No decision by starting pitcher; Marlins lost game
Pitcher (#)Number of appearances as Opening Day starter with the Marlins
*Advanced to the post-season
† World Series Champions

Pitchers

SeasonPitcherDecisionOpponentLocationRef(s)
1993 Charlie Hough W Los Angeles Dodgers Joe Robbie Stadium [3]
1994 Charlie Hough (2)L Dodger Stadium [3]
1995 John Burkett Joe Robbie Stadium [3]
1996 Kevin Brown Pittsburgh Pirates [3]
1997† Kevin Brown (2)W Chicago Cubs Pro Player Stadium [3]
1998 Liván Hernández W Chicago Cubs Pro Player Stadium [3]
1999 Alex Fernandez New York Mets [3]
2000 Alex Fernandez (2) San Francisco Giants [3]
2001 Ryan Dempster L Philadelphia Phillies [3]
2002 Ryan Dempster (2) Montreal Expos Olympic Stadium [3] [7]
2003† Josh Beckett L Philadelphia Phillies Pro Player Stadium [3] [8]
2004 Josh Beckett (2)W Montreal Expos Pro Player Stadium [3] [9]
2005 Josh Beckett (3) Atlanta Braves Dolphins Stadium [3] [10]
2006 Dontrelle Willis L Houston Astros Minute Maid Park [3] [11]
2007 Dontrelle Willis (2)W Washington Nationals Robert F. Kennedy Stadium [3] [12]
2008 Mark Hendrickson L New York Mets Dolphin Stadium [13]
2009 Ricky Nolasco W Washington Nationals [4]
2010 Josh Johnson L New York Mets Citi Field [5]
2011 Josh Johnson (2)W Sun Life Stadium [5]
2012 Josh Johnson (3)L St. Louis Cardinals Marlins Park [5]
2013 Ricky Nolasco (2) Washington Nationals Nationals Park [3]
2014 José Fernández W Colorado Rockies Marlins Park [3]
2015 Henderson Álvarez L Atlanta Braves [3]
2016 Wei-Yin Chen ND (L) Detroit Tigers [3]
2017 Edinson Vólquez Washington Nationals Nationals Park [3] [14]
2018 José Ureña L Chicago Cubs Marlins Park [3]
2019 José Ureña (2) Colorado Rockies [3]
2020* Sandy Alcántara W Philadelphia Phillies Citizens Bank Park [3]
2021 Sandy Alcántara (2)ND (L) Tampa Bay Rays LoanDepot Park [3]
2022 Sandy Alcántara (3) San Francisco Giants Oracle Park [3]
2023* Sandy Alcántara (4)ND (L) New York Mets LoanDepot Park [3]
2024 Jesús Luzardo ND (L) Pittsburgh Pirates LoanDepot Park [3]

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References

  1. ↑ Bastian, Jordan (March 22, 2010). "Marcum tapped for Jays' Opening Day". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  2. ↑ Dilbeck, Steve (February 24, 2014). "Dodgers may not start Clayton Kershaw in Sydney". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 "Miami Marlins Opening Day Starters and Results". Baseball-Reference. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Florida 12, Washington 6". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 2013-07-20. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "NY Mets 7, Florida 1". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  6. ↑ "Official Rules – The Official Scorer". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  7. ↑ "Expos 7, Marlins 6". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  8. ↑ "Bell, Thome and Millwood off to solid starts". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  9. ↑ "Choi marks Marlins debut with career-high 3 RBI". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  10. ↑ "Smoltz allows first-inning grand slam in return to rotation". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  11. ↑ "Oswalt, Lidge combine to five-hit Marlins". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  12. ↑ "Cabrera's four RBI carry Marlins past Nats". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  13. ↑ "Santana K's eight in seven innings as Mets roll". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  14. ↑ "Miami Marlins at Washington Nationals Box Score, April 3, 2017". Baseball-Reference. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2017.

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