Price, 29, spent his entire career with the Tampa Bay Rays before being traded to Detroit in July of 2014. Price is 86-51 with a 3.21 ERA over seven major league seasons. He went 15-12 with a 3.26 ERA and league-leading 271 strikeouts last year. Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
The Detroit Tigers named left-hander David Price as the Opening Day starter, ending right-hander Justin Verlander’s streak of seven consecutive.
This will be Price’s fourth Opening Day start — his first with the Tigers — when Detroit opens the season against the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park on April 6. He has a 3.54 ERA through 20 1/3 innings pitched on Opening Day.
“It’s a tough decision when you have two guys like that,” manager Brad Ausmus said Friday when deciding between the two former Cy Young Award winners. “I think I could have gone either way. I could have gone Verlander-Price, but I decided to go Price-Verlander.
“Looking at it from a baseball perspective, I felt this was the (right) decision and it wasn’t an easy decision. Justin Verlander has been an outstanding pitcher for a long time. He has done a lot for the Tigers and this organization. But, I have to make a decision based on baseball and what is best for the 2015 Tigers.”
Price, 29, spent his entire career with the Tampa Bay Rays before being traded to Detroit in July of 2014. Price is 86-51 with a 3.21 ERA over seven major league seasons. He went 15-12 with a 3.26 ERA and league-leading 271 strikeouts last year.
“I’m extremely honored to take the ball on that day, because it’s a very special day in baseball,” Price said. “It caught me by surprise, to say the least. I definitely thought it’d be Ver out there.”
Verlander won the American League Cy Young Award — and MVP — in 2011. Price captured the AL Cy Young one year later when Verlander finished as the runner-up.
Verlander is coming off a disappointing season with the identical 15-12 record as Price, but with a 4.54 ERA.
“I want to earn Opening Day. I don’t want to be handed Opening Day,” Verlander said. “Hopefully at this time next year, we’re talking about me having earned it and done all the things that I’ve worked so hard to do to get back to being that guy. I’d rather be on the mound (Opening Day), but like I’ve said many times, I’ve got to earn it — and I plan on doing that.”
