Colby Lewis will be the Texas Rangers’ starting pitcher on Opening Day after manager Ron Washington announced on Thursday the five pitchers who will be in the rotation to start the 2012 season.
Lewis will be followed by left-handers Derek Holland and Matt Harrison, and righties Yu Darvish and Neftali Feliz will occupy the fourth and fifth spots.
That’s how the rotation was set at the start of spring training, and the Rangers elected to not split up their lefties with Darvish. They could have also accomplished that by making Holland the starter to open the season April 6 against the White Sox, but Lewis earned the nod as the staff’s veteran.
"He's my veteran," Washington said. "He's the guy who's been dependable. He's going to pitch his game."
Darvish, the Japanese star, will make his first career start April 9 against Seattle and Ichiro Suzuki, the most successful Japanese player in major-league history.
"It's not Darvish vs. Ichiro," Washington said. "It's Darvish vs. the Mariners."
-- Jeff Wilson
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