Reds opening day is soon upon us. With spring training wrapping up, teams have named their starting pitchers for the big day. The matchup in Cincinnati will feature two young starters looking to take a big step in their respective careers. Since the turn of the century, the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates have faced off three times to start the season. The last one coming in 2018, which resulted in a 5-3 Cincinnati win.
To start the season on the mound for any franchise is an honor pitchers all the time speak on. Reds opening day is no different. In fact, it may hold even more significance than other teams. With the history of the franchise, and aside from last year, always opening the season at home, the Reds opening day is a party like no other.
Reds Opening Day pitcher: Hunter Greene
The Reds will break camp with second-year pitcher Hunter Greene named as their guy to start the season. The decision for Greene to start opening day came early in spring back on March 9. It seemed as though heading into spring, barring any major situations, opening day was Greene’s to lose. Fellow sophomore season pitcher Nick Lodolo made a very impressive case for himself, however Greene earned the Reds Opening Day start
Last season in his rookie campaign, Greene announced to the baseball world he had arrived. Over the course of the season, he registered 337 pitches over 100mph. The next highest was Jordan Hicks with 92. Greene made 24 starts where he posted a 4.44 ERA with 164 strikeouts.
Hunter Greene throws GAS
pic.twitter.com/3VVy22f9Ts
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 11, 2023
2022 was a tale of two seasons for Hunter Greene. Missing more than a month late in the season, when he came back from a shoulder strain is when Greene really turned it up a dial. In his final four starts he threw 23 innings to the tune of a 0.78 ERA to go along with a 41.1% strikeout rate. This spring looked much the same. His fastball has been solid, the slider has been filthy. Greene is gearing up for what should be an impressive 2023 campaign, and it starts as the Reds opening day starter.
Pirates Opening Day pitcher: Mitch Keller
The Reds opening day opposing pitcher will be 26-year-old Mitch Keller. Keller is a former second-round pick in the 2014 draft. He will be making his first opening day start along with Greene. The Pirates are looking to turn their long rebuild around soon and hope that Keller can be the man to anchor the ship.
Mitch Keller has been named our Opening Day starter in Cincinnati.
Congratulations, @mkeller11! pic.twitter.com/JTeuRxMyLU
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 15, 2023
2022 was a solid year for Keller. Pitching in 159 innings which was a career-high, he finished the year with a 3.91 ERA and was a 2.0 fWAR pitcher for Pittsburgh. Keller has a plus fastball that can touch the upper 90s. His fastball was a pitch he was able to improve on from 2021 by having a 23.9% whiff rate on the pitch. To go along with an impressive fastball, he has multiple breaking pitches that seem unhittable at times and a changeup that he averages 92mph on.
Opening day 2023
The Reds and Pirates both have had some abysmal years recently. Now with both teams putting together some key pieces to their roster, they are starting to gear towards winning ways. For this season, it will start against each other. You can catch Reds opening day on Thursday March 30 at 4:10 in Cincinnati against the visiting Buccos.
Main Photo Credits: Jeff Curry- USA Today Sports
Players mentioned:
Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Jordan Hicks, Mitch Keller
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