The tarp was on the field earlier, now it’s been taking off and Charlie Manuel has made up the lineup for today’s game. He’s decided to put Jimmy Rollins in the third spot, which I like because it’s going to put some pressure on Rollins, who I think can deal with it. He’s entering the season with something to prove and I think he will see quite a few fastballs while hitting in front of Ryan Howard.
Rollins has always hit like he was hitting in the three spot anyway, so I don’t think it’s change which is good. Phillies fans have talked about him changing his approach at the plate, but we all know that’s not going to happen.
Victorino will lead off and he can do a good job there by getting on base and putting pressure on the pitcher by being a threat to steal.
I think the fact Ibanez is 39-years old hasn’t been talked about enough. He’s going to need days off each week, so that’s going to mean John Mayberry will play quite a bit.
So many times a guy like Francisco has his weaknesses exposed when he becomes a starter. Hopefully he follows what happened with Jayson Werth. He earns himself a starting job and goes on to sign a $120 million dollar contract.
Here’s the Phillies batting order.
Shane Victorino 8
Placedo Polanco 5
Jimmy Rollins 6
Ryan Howard 3
Raul Ibanez 7
Ben Francisco 9
Carlos Ruiz 2
Wilson Valdez 4
Roy Halladay 1
A good line-up by Manager Charlie with a balance of speed and power miced in nicely.. The Key to beating Astrons Starter Myers is that he likes to throw first-ball fastball for a strike to start the count, Phils need to be agreesive and jump on his fastball which is good but very hittable when prepared for it.. Myers is very similar to Blanton for when they get ahead in the count, then they can mixc in their curve/slider making them much more effective.. Let’s see if Phils jump on Myers early to get into a very unproven Bullpen of the Astros.. Paulstradomus predicts a 5-2 Phillie Victory with a Homerun by Ibanez and a 2 out,2 Rbi double by Rollins and a very strong effort by P Halladay who goes 8 innings with Contreras cleaning up the 9th for his 1st Save of the Season ..
This “Phillie Lite” batting line-up making Brett Meyers look like a HOF Pitcher..
It’s going to be a struggle scoring runs this season, I am afraid, wasting the great Starting Pitchers that they have.. here we go to the Bullpen and another blown game.. replay this game later on for I think Phillie Fans will be seeing similar games a lot of this year..unfortunately..
paulman, it’s sad to say I but I agree. I don’t think this team will have the offensive production that they are accustomed to. And it has nothing to do with this game. It’s been my concern the entire offseason. When they play a team like the Giants with a good starting rotation then it becomes lineup vs lineup and that’s where we can potentially have problems. Hopefully, Rollins comes around and Ibanez starts hitting like he did before he got accused of steroids.
wow, you negative guys were really right. Our bats really fell through in the 9th inning there…
See scorp – I’m against predicting the future and being prematurely negative for EXACTLY THIS REASON
I’m not saying it always works this way, or that this game will be a microcosm of the whole season, but….
What a way to open the season.