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A history of Arizona Diamondbacks Opening Day starting pitchers
Monday night at Chase Field, Josh Collmenter will take the hill for the first pitch of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 2015 season.
The right-hander will join a select group of D-backs hurlers to start on Opening Day, one that includes a handful of All-Star games as well as one MLB Hall of Famer.
Of course, if history tells us anything, it’s that anything can happen on Opening Day. Even the best pitchers have been roughed up, while some of the less well-known arms have come up big.
Some interesting factoids
Seven different pitchers have gotten the ball on Opening Day. Of those seven, three — Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb and Ian Kennedy — made six, four and three Opening Day starts, respectively.
The four one-start pitchers are Andy Benes, Javier Vazquez, Dan Haren and Wade Miley. None of them were with the D-backs the following year.
The D-back with the most Opening Day wins? Not surprisingly, it’s Johnson with three. Next up is Kennedy, with two.
By far, the worst Opening Day performance in D-backs history belongs to Javier Vazquez (see slideshow). Poor guy, he was the pitcher in between the Johnson and Brandon Webb eras.
