The Texas Rangers will use Connor Sadzeck as an opener for Yohander Mendez on Friday at San Diego against the Padres, the team announced today. As an “opener,” Sadzeck will pitch to the first few batters of the game before giving way to Mendez, who will handle something like a starting pitcher’s workload.
This is an interesting pairing and circumstance to me, for a couple of reasons. Part of the appeal of the opener is to give the opposing team a couple of different looks early, and with Connor Sadzeck, a hard-throwing righthanded, being followed by Yohander Mendez, a lefty whose changeup is his best pitch, it does offer a significant contrast in styles.