As the Miami Marlins gear up for the 2017 with some new faces in their rotation, one of those faces will take the mound on April 3 when the Marlins travel to Washington D.C. to face the Nationals. Miami tabbed Edinson Volquez for the Wednesday opener, handing they keys of the rotation to the man they handed a two-year, $22 million contract to this offseason.
It will mark the fifth time Volquez has toed the rubber on Opening Day, a surprising note given Volquez isn't exactly the front-line caliber many expect to take the first start. But he represents the best option Miami has and will take the first step in what he and the Marlins hope will be a bounce back season.
Prior to 2016, Volquez posted consecutive seasons with a sub-3.6 earned run average and nearly threw 200 innings in each year. But 2016 proved to be an ugly one for the 32-year-old as his BB/9 jumped from 3.23 to 3.61, HR/9 pushed up from 0.72 to 1.09 and he surrendered a 5.37 ERA over 189 1/3 innings.
His stuff never dominated opposing hitters other than the outlier 2008 season with the Cincinnati Reds, but he usually did enough to be considered an average starter. That wasn't the case last season with his command growing increasingly worse and a 0.5 MPH drop in his fastball velocity. The good news – the move to Marlins Park should offer him some more room for error.
Volquez also looked sharp in the World Baseball Classic as he allowed only one earned run and struck out eight batters across eight innings of work in his representation for the Dominican Republic.
So it looks like right now the 33-year-old still has enough stuff to get the job done and with the shift to a pitcher-friendly ballpark and moving out of the American League, Volquez should return to a sub-4.6 ERA. He'll be an innings eater with an ERA that won't kill you in fantasy. In plenty of leagues that carries value, but not a lot. One thing is for certain though, don't start him against the Nationals.