Yovani Gallardo will start his third consecutive Opening Day
for the Milwaukee Brewers, but that doesn't mean no other enticing options were
available.
Manager Ron Roenicke said Wednesday the 26-year-old right-hander will be on the
mound when the Brewers open their season April 6 at Miller Park against the
defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.
"Yo is going to open up," Roenicke said. "(Zack) Greinke will go
second, then (Randy Wolf), then — if everything goes well — (Shaun) Marcum, and
then (Chris Narveson)."
It's the same rotation that led the Brewers to 96 wins and an NL Central Division
title last season, and the only variable is the sore throwing shoulder that has
hindered Marcum in spring training. Roenicke knows he has an embarrassment of
riches in the top two spots, choosing between a 2011 17-game winner in Gallardo
and the 2009 AL Cy Young winner in Greinke.
"Sometimes you look at how guys are throwing in spring and maybe you want
to do it a little different," Roenicke said. "But I think you go by
what happens in the season before. Yo opened up for us last year, had a great
year, and we'd like him to open up again.
"(But) it's really nice having Greinke second."
Roenicke said Greinke, who was 16-6 with a 3.83 ERA in his first season with
Milwaukee last year, understood the decision even though he has been almost
untouchable this spring (0.73 ERA, 20 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings).
"I talked to Zack, I think it was two or three days ago," Roenicke
said. "We kind if let them know where it lined up, but I wanted to make
sure that he knew what we were thinking. He would love to start Opening Day,
but he's really a good team player. He understands reasoning for doing things,
and he's very compliant of what we ask him to do."
In fact, Roenicke said, the Opening Day decision is a bigger deal to the media
than it is in the Brewers clubhouse.
"You guys probably make a bigger deal out of it, but it's still
important," the manager said. "We're in a rare situation where we
have two number one guys, and our numbers three, four and five aren't bad
either."
The Milwaukee Brewers provided the interview for this story.
