The Orioles have tapped four-year veteran pitcher Kevin Gausman to kick off the season one week from today against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Gausman started last season on the disabled list, but will get the nod for Opening Day this time around, manager Buck Showalter announced today.
It’s official! Buck Showalter has announced @KevinGausman as the 2017 #OpeningDay starter! #Birdland pic.twitter.com/qbpTpLsy91
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 27, 2017
“Kevin is a guy we think can help us put our best foot forward,” Showalter told MLB.com reporter Brittany Ghiroli. “We had some other guys to pick from, but we think he’s primed to be as good as he’s capable of being this year. We want to take advantage of that.”
Gausman has started 72 of 95 games in his four seasons with the O’s. His career ERA is 3.97, though that average dropped to 3.10 in the second half of last season, per MLB.com.
The franchise picked him fourth overall out of Louisiana State University in 2012. Previously easy to spot for his prescription glasses in games, Gausman underwent eye surgery after the 2015 season. (Contacts never worked for him, he previously said.) “I’m excited that I won’t look like such a geek anymore,” he told MASN in November 2015 after his operation.
The Orioles’ first game of the 2017 season against the Blue Jays kicks off at 3:05 p.m. at Camden Yards on Monday, April 3. Pitcher Dylan Bundy will get the start for the second game against Toronto on Wednesday, April 5.
Click here for our guide to all the extra goods and special events you can enjoy at Camden Yards throughout the Orioles’ 25th anniversary season.
