For the second year in a row, Zack Greinke will start Opening Day for the Kansas City Royals.
The club announced the move Friday as Greinke and the Royals are finishing up their last few days of spring training in Surprise, Ariz. The Royals will play the Minnesota Twins at 3:10 p.m. Thursday at Kauffman Stadium.
“It’s nice,” Greinke said Friday. “I thought it was going to be a tough decision between me and Brady (Singer) going into the season. Last year, he was amazing, and so far this year he’s looked just as good if not better. So he’s probably the best pitcher on our staff at the moment. He didn’t get many innings in the World Baseball Classic so that kind of made it a little easier choice probably.”
Last season Greinke, 39, went 4-9 with a 3.68 ERA in 26 starts. Against Cleveland last year on Opening Day, Greinke pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up just one run. It will be Greinke’s seventh career Opening Day start and third with the Royals.
Greinke said one of the perks of starting Opening Day is not having to take part in the pregame ceremonies. Instead, he’ll be warming up in the bullpen.
“I think in the past the best part is there’s a big lineup introduction ceremonies and you don’t have to deal with that,” Greinke said. “You can just get ready to pitch, which is nice.”
Thursday’s game will also mark the managerial debut of Matt Quatraro. He said having Greinke on the mound should help calm some nerves.
“I’m excited for him,” Quatraro said. “We’re all witnessing a Hall of Fame career and another step in that is another Opening Day start — his seventh, which is pretty amazing. He was happy, somewhat relieved. We’re happy, and for me to have somebody that’s been there and done that and is able to handle the emotions and everything is great.”
