Anthony Mazziotti
The Phillies announced their first starting nine on Twitter.
Here it is!
The first #Phillies lineup of the 2018 season! #BeBold #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/sYhBuGJwPv
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 29, 2018
Here are a few things worth noting:
- It was a bit surprising to see that Andrew Knapp is getting the first start over Jorge Alfaro. It makes some sense as Knapp has more major league experience than Alfaro, but silly in that Alfaro figures to have the higher ceiling. I wonder how Kapler is going to split up the time between the two moving forward.
- No-dubel? Kap is rolling with Hoskins, Altherr, and Williams in the outfield. This leaves Odubel Herrera as the first odd-man out. On the bright side, I like that Altherr is getting some time, he’s a really good baseball player.
- I’m not shocked that Scott Kingery is on the bench. Hernandez is a proven commodity at second, the Phils didn’t trade away Freddy Galvis to let Crawford ride pine, Franco is the incumbent third baseman until proven otherwise, and we all know about the outfield situation. Kingery will get his time to shine.
- I know it’s not news, but I’m super excited to see Nola get the Opening Day nod. He’s the best pitcher on the roster and one of the up-and-coming pitchers in the league.
Be Bold.
You can follow Anthony Mazziotti on Twitter (@AntMazziotti) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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