Jorge De La Rosa will start Opening Day for Colorado Rockies

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

To me Jorge De La Rosa is the face of the Colorado Rockies pitching staff. That is not to indulge the nonsensical ‘face of the franchise’ competition that recently took place, but rather to give credit to De La Rosa for his sustained success in Colorado.

Remember the time when he first arrived in Colorado? He was a flier, a risky guy who had not met his potential yet. He was a headcase. If you honestly believed he would eventually be the team’s Opening Day starter at the time, good on you, because it would have been hard to imagine indeed.

You can find Opening Day tickets from ScoreBig.

With Jhoulys Chacin likely to start the season on the 15-day DL, it is De La Rosa who will get the start March 31st against the Miami Marlins. Here is what he had to say about the news (quotes from MLB.com):

"It’s exciting for me. It’s an honor for me to be the Opening Day starter. It’s going to be my first one. Not too many guys can do this in their career. I’m ready for the challenge.”"

The Rockies will presumably then roll with Tyler Chatwood for game two and Brett Anderson in game three to split up their left-handed starters. Last season De La Rosa, age 32, went 16-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 30 starts.