The decision as to who would start on Opening Day for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019 was a no-brainer for manager Craig Counsell. Jhoulys Chacin was the obvious choice, earning the honor based upon his fantastic first season for the 2018 NL Central champions. He established himself as the rotation’s leader, working a league-high 35 starts and tossing 192.2 innings with a 3.50 ERA. He was credited with 15 winning decisions, a career-high, and went on to allow only two earned runs across 12.1 postseason frames.
Recent history, however, has turned the privilege of starting the season’s initial game for the Cream City Nine into a dubious one, and Chacin has not been immune to that curse in 2019.