When the Colorado Rockies open the 2025 season on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays, they will turn to homegrown lefty Kyle Freeland to make his fourth Opening Day start in franchise history. Manager Bud Black made the announcement on Sunday before Freeland’s start against the Kansas City Royals.

“His total commitment to the organization and how he’s throwing the ball this spring, it’s a situation where, for us, he was our guy to take the ball,” Black said.

For Freeland, the start will set a franchise record as he breaks the tie with fellow rotation member Germán Márquez as the duo has started each season since 2019, with Freeland doing so in 2019, ‘22 and ‘24.

The 31-year-old has been solid in camp this year. Before Sunday’s game, Freeland owned a 2.79 ERA in 9 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts against one walk. Utilizing a solid fastball and a good changeup, Freeland has worked to add a true slider to his arsenal while identifying his previous slider as a cutter now. Knowing he isn’t going to blow the competition away, Freeland has worked to get crafty on the mound over the years because of a fastball that tops out at 93 mph on a good day.

Freeland ran into his first bad outing on Sunday when the Royals scored seven runs in the second inning against him. He was removed from the inning with two outs before re-entering in the third inning. Freeland bounced back after the unraveling and ended up going 4 1/3 total innings, giving up seven runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. After the game, he acknowledged that he’d been fighting his mechanics in the bullpen before the game and things spiraled out of control quickly in that second inning.

The Rockies are certainly hoping that performance is just a blip on the radar and not indicative of what’s to come once the season starts. Freeland had an excellent spring last year, going 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA in five Cactus League starts, striking out 16 in 19 innings. He was pushing 94 mph on his fastball and looked to have found some new life in his arsenal. The wind was taken out of his sails immediately on Opening Day in Arizona as he gave up 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings. A left elbow strain that may have originated in camp landed him on the injured list after he posted a 13.21 ERA in four starts. Once he returned in late June, Freeland was much better, posting a 3.96 ERA in 17 starts the rest of the season.

Drafted eighth overall in 2014, Freeland has been a staple in the Rockies rotation since his debut in 2017. He made a strong statement in his MLB debut that season, facing off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the home opener at Coors Field, allowing just one run on four hits in six innings with six strikeouts and two walks. After a strong rookie campaign to help lead the Rockies to the postseason, Freeland followed up with a fourth-place finish in the National League Cy Young Award voting in 2018. A 2.85 ERA and 17 wins in 202 innings over 33 starts put Freeland on the map and it seemed he was going to be one the best starters in baseball.

During his first Opening Day start in 2019, Freeland tossed seven innings against the Miami Marlins, allowing just one run on two hits. His season quickly nose-dived after that as mechanical changes threw him out of whack and he struggled to prevent runs in a season that included a demotion to Triple-A. Since then it has been a mixed bag of results as Freeland has shown the highs and lows of his pitching abilities and averaged out to a fairly average MLB pitcher. During his Opening Day start in 2022, Freeland allowed five runs on five hits against the Dodgers at Coors Field in 3 2/3 innings of work.

The Rockies are in transition as a team, looking for a wave of youth to make an impact with the big league roster. Their No. 1 prospect Chase Dollander has made a bid in big league camp to make the roster but could end up starting the season in Triple-A as the Rockies are looking at starting the season with a four-man rotation. Injuries have plagued the rotation over the last couple of seasons, but with most everyone healthy (left-hander Austin Gomber will start the season on the 15-day injured list with a sore shoulder), the Rockies are looking for a change of fortune. Freeland is an acknowledged leader in the Rockies clubhouse, particularly among the pitchers, and is still under contract for at least one more season in 2026 with a $17 million vesting option in 2027 if he throws 170 innings in ’26. The hope is that he can pick up where he left off in the second half of the 2024 season and lead the charge on the mound when the season kicks off on March 28.