Kansas City Royals: Opening Day starters over past decade
By Cullen Jekel
2016 OPENING DAY STARTER – EDINSON VOLQUEZ
To begin their ultimately ill-fated championship defense, the Royals turned to veteran Edinson Volquez. Volquez joined the team before the 2015 season and went a solid 13-9 with a 3.55 ERA in just over 200 innings pitched.
On Opening Day of 2016, he went up against Matt Harvey of the New York Mets. The two teams had just played each other in the World Series the previous October, and Harvey was the Mets pitcher who botched Game 5, allowing the Royals to clinch the series. Now, on April 3, 2016, the Royals once more defeated the Mets.
For his part, Volquez, who earned the win, tossed six innings of two-hit, shutout ball, walking three and striking out five on 106 pitches. Eric Hosmer went 3-for-4 with an RBI while Lorenzo Cain went 1-for-2 with two walks while scoring two runs. In foreshadowing what the season would hold, reliever Joakim Soria, back for another stint with the club, gave up three earned runs in just 2/3 innings pitched.
The Royals would miss the playoffs in 2016, going 81-81. Volquez finished the year 10-11 with a 5.37 ERA, 80 ERA+, 4.57 FIP, 1.548 WHIP, and 139 strikeouts over 189.1 innings pitched. He’d leave after the year to sign with Miami Marlins and is now a member of the Texas Rangers.