"Edinson Volquez will get a chance to live up to his number on Opening Day.

The Reds named Volquez, the 27-year-old right-hander, as the starter for the opening March 31 game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park.

Volquez wears No. 36. That's the same number as Mario Soto, who made six Opening Day starts in the 1980s. Soto mentioned starting Opening Day to Volquez last year.

"He looked at the back of his jersey and said, 'hey, you better be a No. 1 starter,' " Volquez said.

Soto is passing down the tradition.

"Gaylord Perry told me when I was playing, 'if you're going to wear 36, you got to be good," Soto said.

The Reds are counting on Volquez to be very good. Volquez pitched like a No. 1 starter in 2008, going 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA. But he had "Tommy John" surgery in 2009. He returned to make 12 starts last year. He went 4-3 with a 4.32 ERA. He was dominant as times, and he was awful at times.

Soto thinks Volquez can develop into a No. 1 starter.

"Definitely," Soto said. "This guy has the stuff. He's getting the experience. Plus, he likes the challenge."

Aaron Harang had started the last five Opening Days. He, of course, is no longer with the club. Bronson Arroyo, the other possible choice, will start Game 2. Johnny Cueto will pitch the third game of the season. Homer Bailey, Travis Wood and Mike Leake are competing for the fourth and fifth spots.

A big part of the decision was how the Reds wanted to set up the rotation.

"You want to go hard, soft," Baker said. "You want to break up Volqie and Cueto. You don't want them to try to out radar-gun each other. Whoever the fifth starter is going to be -- other than Homer (Bailey) -- is going to be softer. If Bronson is No. 1, you've got two softer guys back-to-back.""