On Wednesday, the Colorado Rockies announced that starting pitcher Kyle Freeland will get the start on the mound on Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks. This will be Freeland’s third Opening Day start, tying Germán Márquez for the franchise lead. Through four Cactus League starts, he has 14 strikeouts to just one walk, a sign he could be a different pitcher from last year. The 2023 season saw him rack up 14 losses in 29 starts with a 5.03 ERA, the worst since his 2019 season. Freeland and the Rockies’ unpredictable pitching rotation must prove plenty of people wrong in 2024.
Kyle Freeland Gets the Opening Day Start
Previous Opening Day starts: 2019 and 2022, both with the Rockies
2023 season: 6-14, 5.03 ERA in 29 starts
Freeland is in the third year of a five-year, $64.5 million contract. In the 2019 opener, Freeland pulled out the win on the road against the Miami Marlins. He held the Marlins to one run on two hits and struck out five across seven innings. In 2022, it was a different outcome for Freeland and the Rockies. He went 3 2/3 innings as he coughed up five runs in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Freeland, 30, has spent his entire career with the Rockies. It was the clear choice for manager Bud Black to hand the ball to the left-hander as Márquez and Antonio Senzatela are recovering from Tommy John surgery. This can give Freeland the chance to step outside the box and serve as a leader.
While facing Arizona, the seven-year Rockies starter has recorded a 5.35 ERA and 73 strikeouts. He’s never pitched more than seven innings against the D-Backs. Freeland will be up against Zac Gallen, who is coming off a fantastic 2023 season where he finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting. Gallen threw a career-high 210 innings during the regular season.
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