Surprising many, Dooley gets nod for opening day start.(44.10)

[niles08]

While Aki Kondo is probably the best starter in the Omaha rotation, it is once again Timo Dooley making the opening day start for the franchise against Chicago.

Dooley who will make his third straight opening day start for the Cyclones at the age of 24, is coming off of back to back good, although not great seasons after spending part of 2041 back in AAA. He went 13-10 in 2042, and 11-7 last season with ERA’s of 4.54 and 3.87 respectively. Dooley’s BB/9 were on of his main issues in 2041 that caused him to be sent down and dropping from 3.5 to the 1.5 range last season has shown his progression.

Dooley’s ability to cause swing and misses is something still to be desired though as he has hung around the 5.0 range the past 2 seasons, but still a big jump over his 3.7 K/9 in 2041. Dooley had his season end last year as soon as he crossed the 200 inning mark, the club shut him down, where in 2042, he was shut down because of injury after just 184 innings pitched, missing the playoffs.

Whether you’re a Kondo fan or a Dooley fan, you shouldn’t be disappointed for the team to give a nod to one of their own to begin the campaign. For those wondering, it does look like Jorge Hernandez will pitch behind Kondo for the third game of the season.