So there is some uncertainty, speculation and curiosity about who will be the Opening Day starting pitcher for the Tigers. There are two options apparently being considered:



Max Scherzer - Max is the reigning Cy Young winner and seemed to snipe Justin Verlander's status as the Tigers' Ace last season. So far, Max appears to be in mid-season form already. He is mixing up his pitches, get lots of swings and misses, lots of strikeouts, low hits and I think he's only allowed one run. This is Max's Walk Year and he is expected to be looking for a BIG contract after this season. In order for him to get that money, he's going to have to at least meet the success he had last season. Even if he walks, the Tigers could really benefit from his motivation to be an Ace this season.



Justin Verlander - Despite his struggles, during the middle of the season last year, Just actually had a good overall season. A down year from what people expect from Justin Verlander, but better than most other starting pitchers in the game. By September he was back to being lights out Justin and he had THE best starting pitching performance of the 2013 post season (1-1 in 3 starts with a 0.39 ERA 31 Ks and 3 BB in 28 innings, with a .127 average and a .57 WHIP). Justin made his first spring start today and he went 3 2/3's innings with 2 BB, 2Ks, 1H and 0 ERs. It's also worth mentioning that Justin has been the Tigers' Opening Day starter for the last 6 seasons.



My pick is Justin Verlander. Justin was drafted by the Tigers, developed by the Tigers and just signed a long term extension with the Tigers. Justin is almost certainly going to retire a Tiger and he is definitely on a Hall of Fame career arc. Every indication says that Justin will be back in 2010-2012 form this season and less like the Justin we saw last season. Max is probably not going to be a Tiger in 2015. Personally, I wouldn't stick a guy who has been the face of the franchise and is your long term Ace in favor of a guy, who while he may be equally good, is going to be playing for someone else next year. Opening Day is practically a holiday in Detroit (even through the bad years) and the Tigers need to show some loyalty back to the guy who has been loyal to them.



What say you?

Max would be my pick.

Got to be excited about the entire staff. Even with Sanchez on the DL you can bet he will be back with a vengeance. I think Porcello will be the talk of MLB by August. JV will always be the face of the franchise along with Cabrera so I was glad he got the nod on opening day. Going to be a very exciting year!

Drew?