The Tampa Bay Rays were the first team to experiment with an Opener during the 2018 season when they had reliever Sergio Romo start the game on May 19. Romo pitched in the role again on May 20, 25 and 27. In those four “Opener roles” he pitched a total of 3.1 innings going 1 inning, 1.1 innings, .2 innings and .1 innings giving up no runs in starts one and two and one run in his third start and 3 runs in his final start. Seven of the 10 outs he recorded were by strikeouts. During his time as an opener Romo did not pitch in any other games between May 19 and May 27.
The Dodgers, Twins, Athletics, and Rangers also used the opener strategy at different points during the 2018 season.
One advantage of the strategy as noted in Wikipedia is that the opener, who is often a hard-throwing specialist, can be called in to face the most dangerous hitters, who are usually near the top of the batting order, the first time they come to bat. If the opener is successful, the job of the next pitcher is easier since they will start with less-dangerous hitters. The strategy also throws off the timing of the top-of-the-order hitters, who are not used to seeing different pitchers each time they come to bat, and allows the starting pitcher to face the top of the lineup two times rather than three.
So what will we see from the Opener strategy in 2019 and beyond? The Opener was utilized in 2018 by teams that had starting pitching issues and/or injuries to their starters and is not for everybody. Baseball is a copycat game where if one team finds something that works for them, then everyone jumps on the bandwagon as every team in MLB is looking for that edge because just one additional win can make all the difference in the world.
I for one don’t see the benefits of the Opener strategy in its current form, however; I think there is a way to use this strategy to everyone’s benefit. The big problem with using a reliever to start the game is that you are burning a resource that you might better utilize later in the game in a more crucial spot and the fact that you are putting a reliever into a role that he is not familiar with.
The solution to this problem seems like a simple fix to me and everybody can do it immediately by simply utilizing starters between starts as Openers. These starters know what it takes to start a game and they throw between starts anyway so why waste the precious bullets these guys have in their arms by throwing useless bullpen sessions when you can have them start the game for you. Here you end up with a win-win, you have a Opener/starter getting his work in and your bullpen is fresh and fully stocked. The problem with the starter coming in to relieve the opener remains the same.
MLB teams have used starters in periodic relief roles over the years, in this role they can be used as an Opener versus a reliever. I think that starters would relish this strategy of getting to pitch in a real game that counts versus wasting your time throwing in the bullpen. I understand that in some cases starters may still need bullpens to work on particular items that they may be testing out or need to work on.