Twins name Pablo Lopez the opening day starter

[wabene]

In a somewhat surprising move https://www.startribune.com/twins-opening-day-starting-pitcher-pablo-lopez/600261704/

[GNess]

It's a positive projection by the staff as to what they expect (hope) Lopez to become - A quasi # 1. Good people management...

[Jocko87]

Nice, not surprising to me really.  Just the persuasion value of selling a fan favorite but getting back the opening day starter/ace vs just a pitcher would make it worth it to the team.  His performance has earned it and he projects as the top of the rotation.  He's also at full speed due to the WBC. 

[Doctor Gast]

No surprises here. Lopez should come out strong.

[danielp19653]

I think really you could have made an argument for Gray, Ryan, or Lopez to make this opening day start but with Lopez coming off the WBC and being the most ramped up I think this is a smart move. Doesn't hurt that assuming he starts strong and starts the year with a win it makes the Arraez trade sit a little better.

[stringer bell]

Of the six starters on the roster, Lopez is the one most likely to get Cy Young consideration. I don't think it's a head-and-shoulders above the rest thing, but I expect him to eventually be regarded as the Twins' top starter.

[Beast]

Not sure I’d read too much into this.  There’s a lot more at play here than the FO believing he’s our “ace.”

They can’t roll him out 4th in the rotation after trading Arraez for him.  They also can’t have him starting the home opener (not sure how everything lines up, but I’d bet he won’t).  They want to demonstrate to the fans that they went out and got their potential frontline guy.  While also preventing a fan meltdown if he gave up 4 runs in the 1st inning of the home opener.

All that said, I think he’s our best pitcher and should get it.  But, it could be more wanting to line Ryan and Gray up for the first home series than the FO thinking he’s our lights out #1.  Maybe not,  but certainly a grain of salt to consume it with.

Also some good points on the WBC and him being ramped already above.  Makes a lot of sense.

 

[tony&rodney]

Pablo Lopez is the best starting pitcher on the staff when looking at stuff. Now he gets to show that the trade of Luis Arraez was a strong baseball move. From the time of the trade I expected that he would be the Opening Day starter. It was a fair trade that should benefit both teams. I'm excited to see the Twins pitching this year.

[wsnydes]

Logical choice in my mind.  He's not only earned it, in my opinion, but he was also the shiny acquisition over the off-season.

[Tiantwindup]

I don’t get the thinking that he should start the opener so that if he does well it validates the trade and if he doesn’t…I think we as fans are a little smarter than that. 

[Nine of twelve]

I've said this before so bear with me if it seems repetitious. It's not important to me which pitcher happens to start the first game. The primary objective for the manager should be to try to match the starters to the upcoming opponents as well as possible. Depending on the schedule it might be better to save your best starters for the second series of the regular season. The postseason is different. You want your best starter opening the postseason.

[JD-TWINS]

I don’t buy into the Fan Marketing stuff. Don’t think the Twins are worried about satisfying the fans view of the Arraez trade. Who pitches Opening Day on the road, with this staff, is like drawing the short straw.

I think they feel López stuff has the best opportunity to consistently keep us in games - you need that going up against the competition’s Ace. We have a better chance with Gray - Mahle - Ryan - Maeda being paired up against lesser pitchers on other team’s staffs.

 

[wabene]

Somewhat surprising because the talk I heard was Sonny was in line as the veteran. 

Pablo Lopez has impressed me in many ways so far and has been my choice as the starter that steps forward to lead this rotation. 

[tony&rodney]

I don't think one can read too much into the choice other than Pablo Lopez has the best overall stuff on our current pitching staff, which tabs him  to start the first game.

[TNTwinsFan]

Opening Day Lineup:

 

[twinfan]

Makes sense though I would have named Ryan. Here's hoping Lopez can be the real deal. We have 4 solid starters that I hope can stay healthy. But we have 2-3 additional starters that can step in and even a bullpen that can throw a game if needed.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Mildly surprising, as I expected them to hand the OD start to Gray.

I also don’t care. 

[tony&rodney]

3 hours ago, TNTwinsFan said:

Opening Day Lineup:

 

Gallo has not looked good to me. Vasquez over Jeffers. Not concerned right now but Buxton looks like he still has a severe upper cut swing, all or nothing.

[IndianaTwin]

"Opening Day starter" is sometimes a fluke, but it feels good to see the Twins trot out a rotation where the first five games will be started by someone who has legitimately earned and received an Opening Day nod for their team sometime in the past four seasons. Can't be too many teams that can say that.

That also adds some level of credence to an earlier statement I've made that they have at least five guys who can pitch like an ace over an extended period of time. 

Now if we had only signed Rodon. Oh, wait...