Moyer As Opening Day Starter

The Seattle P-I's Jim Moore in his column yesterday asked why Grover is rolling out Jamie Moyer as the Opening Day starter…yet again. With all due respect to Jamie and what he has accomplished for the club, I'm afraid I have to agree with Jim. Forget the fact that Felix is resting to get some shin splints under control and possibly wouldn't be ready to go on Monday anyways. The decision was largely made without that consideration.

I don't subscribe to the belief that opening day starter is an entitlement due to those with years of service or past glory. Following back-to-back ninety-loss seasons, selecting an opening day starter should be about waking up 1-0 on the morning of day 2. Yes, the baseball season is a marathon but given the M's schedule out of the gate, a good start is going to be critical for this team's confidence. I'd prefer to give Felix our best opportunity to start us out on top, if only for a day or two, rather than face the pressure of turning around a possible 0-4 start on Friday night.