The Miami Marlins officially chose Edinson Volquez as their Opening Day starter on Friday.
This will be the the fifth Opening Day assignment of Volquez's career, and his first with the Marlins. After inking a deal in the off-season with Miami, Volquez was seen as a veteran piece for the rotation. Now with this assignment, Volquez could be considered the ace of the staff to begin 2017.
Volquez has not spent much time pitching with the Marlins in the spring, but he did see some competitive innings in the World Baseball Classic. Volquez pitched for the Dominican Republic, and ended up with a 1.13 E.R.A in two starts. The veteran struck out eight in his eight innings of work.
While pitching with the Marlins in the Grapefruit League, Volquez has a 2.89 E.R.A in four games. It is a relatively small sample size, but the right-hander has been one of Miami's best arms in the spring. That factor coupled with his experience, likely made this an easy call for manager Don Mattingly.
In addition to selecting Volquez for the Opening Day assignment, Mattingly announced that Dan Straily and Tom Koehler will start the year in the second and third rotation spots respectively. Wei-Yin Chen will settle into the fourth slot in the rotation, and no arm was chosen to be the fifth starter as of yet.
When the spring started, there was a chance Adam Conley could be the Opening Day starter. Now, there is a chance that the lefty begins the year in AAA New Orleans. Conley had some success in 2016, but has been struggling all spring long. The Marlins could opt to go with Justin Nicolino or Jose Urena if Conley fails to make the team.
The Marlins will begin the regular season on April 3rd against the Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C.
