Opening day line-up unveiled; Victorino leading off makes sense
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Opening day line-up unveiled; Victorino leading off makes sense
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
After so much talk surrounding Juan Pierre as a leadoff hitter, Charlie Manuel opted to go with Shane Victorino at the top spot in the order for the Phillies' Opening Day tilt against the Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
The move makes sense for a variety of reasons, some of which we details in our earlier post projecting some of the possible line-ups that Manuel is likely to use this season. While Pierre has led off for his entire career and has a solid career OBP and well-known speed, he has no power, which could come into play with Carlos Ruiz and his solid OBP hitting seventh. Victorino was a better base-stealer than Pierre last season, and also has very good power, particularly against left-handed starters, which the Phillies will face today in Erik Bedard. You should still expect to see Pierre at the top of the order on numerous occasions, but when all is said and done, Victorino was the Phillies best all-around offensive player last season, which means the Phillies need to get him as many plate appearances as possible, which means he should be batting in the top three spots in the order as often as possible.
The only minor surprise is that Ty Wigginton is in the line-up at first base.
As we've said throughout the spring, John Mayberry Jr. is the biggest wild card in the line-up. If he does what he did last season while playing every day, the order doesn't look so bad. If he does what he did in spring training, then it has the potential to fall off a cliff.
Without further ado, here is the line-up for today's 1:35 p.m. game against the Pirates:
- Shane Victorino CF
- Placido Polanco 3B
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Hunter Pence RF
- Ty Wigginton 1B
- John Mayberry Jr. LF
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Freddy Galvis 2B
- Roy Halladay RHP
Wiggy showed no power in spring training. His best shot I saw barely made it to the warning track.— Dull- Yikes.— beegal99
- Stop being so negative on the lineup. That line up has 2 All Stars in Vic and Pence, former All Stars in Rollins & Polly, and upstarts like May and Galvis. They can score some runs, just need to stay healthy.— FABER
- I would put Wiggs in the 7th hole and move Mayberry and Chooch one spot.— EL Zorro
- Either Charlie fooled the writers or is thinking too much. LOL.— EL Zorro
- Think about who they're playing! That is why Wiggy is on 1B instead of Mayberry or Thorme. Charlie ought to put Juan P. in Sat's lineup.— bartm
- Calm down. First game of the year. Relax and enjoy. Plenty of time to freak out later....— FightinPhil
- It was only a spring training game the other night, but after a decade of watching Jimmy swing for the fences leading off, seeing him bunt batting third made me want to throw a shoe at the tv.— Sidewinder7
- Get ready for the first of many 2-1 games. Hopefully, the Phillies get the "2".— EaglesPhilliesIrish
- Wigginton isn't hitting, and is protecting Pence in this lineup, who does not fair as well in the cleanup spot as he does batting third or fifth. I don't see it, but I'm hardly the expert.— jerseyshorefan
- Ty starting at first? Really Cholly. Figures, a moron for a manager, starts an over weight, over the hill player at first. Got to have those washed up veterans in the lineup. Right Cholly?— shattereddreams
- I would like to see Victorino behind Pence. Wiggington is starting due to Pirates lefthander.— Don w
- Terrible line-up, maybe because it's Pittsburg.— Pepe LePew
- I'm with you, Jerseyshorefan. Pence is an impatient hitter and now he has no protection behind him at 5th or 6th. Victorino may be a better leadoff man than Pierre but Victorino also is a better 5th hitter than Wiggs or Mayberry.
— eman - I still don't get why the Phillies felt they needed Wigg-Nix-Thome....I think 2 of them would have fine....I would rather have PODS over Nix. PODS is a much more versatile player and his OBP in 08-09-10 was .350 ish.....Nix stinks his career OBP is .288...it really makes no sense...Nix does have a little more power but PODS is clearly a better player......— bbrady25
ANYBODY, I MEAN ANYBODY, who has been watching Phillies baseball for the last 5 years and didn't predict this exact lineup on opening day ought to be ashamed of yourselves. That is Charlie's MO, "I play my guys and my guys play for me." Nervous nellies exhale because as Ralphie said after he got his Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas, "Everything is right with the world."— DUDESKINS
Comment removed.- Lots of question marks. I like Rollins batting third and Victorino leading off. Rollins wants to swing for the fences and is more suited to do that rather than take pitches and try to get on as a leadoff man. This team needs to post four runs and let Doc pitch his normal game. I'm OK with Wiggington also. He is an average player with some power and is just filling in, along with some others, until the Big Guy comes back. The infield defense should be pretty good especially when Mayberry plays first. So let's see.
Miami has a much better lineup than the Phils but does not have their pitching. If both staffs were the same, no way the Phils finish higher than the Fish.— World - Mayberry has to start. The Phillies are going to win games with pitching and defense. I'm not as surprised Wigginton is starting today, because Cholly used him a lot during the last games as part of the regular line-up. To me, he should not start. He's a utility player at best who the team acquired along with cash for a player to be named later or cash from the Rockies. That's how bad the Rockies wanted him.— EL Zorro
- So, who should start instead of Wigginton, geniuses? They don't have anyone else right now..— seaonasdad
- So, who should start instead of Wigginton, geniuses? They don't have anyone else right now..— seaonasdad
- Would rather see Pierre in LF, Mayberry on 1B (batting 5th as well), and Laynce Nix on Waivers.— kjuggs77
- Have to focus on excellent pitching and very good defense. How soon this season before someone posts like last season that watching the Phillies play is more boring than watching soccer? No doubt, he/she thinks baseball's real character is reflected in the steroid/PED era. "It is what it is."— ijj
- If they kept Pierre on the roster he should start as much as possible. He's not much help on the bench, other than as a pinch runner and pinch hitter in bunt situations.— EL Zorro
- Would it not be better to have the singles hitting Pierre leading off where he and the team can benefit from Victorino's "power"? Speaking of that power, wasn't the constant flyball outs by Shane the bane of Charlie, who after seeing enough, put Victorino back in the 6 hole?
Well, the day has arrived! Let the angst and heartburn begin!— DelawareRiverRat - With all this negative commentary we will probably end up scoring 10 runs today.— Blue and White
- Comment removed.
- It's a decent enough lineup. Wonder why he has Wiggy batting ahead of Mayberry though, unless he feels Mayberry is pressing and this might take a little pressure off him and put a veteran hitter in there at the same time. Still, gotta feel we'd do better with Pierre leading off and Vic at 5. But, if Vic isn't taking his ADD meds it won't matter where he bats. That high heat gets the best of him(impulsiveness!) and he's swingin' away 3-0 with a pop up on the infield, sacks left loaded. Does it really matter anyway? The Pirates always seem to beat us up pretty bad, even in the good years.— Mark1npt
- Faber what are you saying stop being negative? Thats what they do their MO. They must be suffering with 102 wins 5 straight division titles... Victorino should be batting behind Pence who as one blogger stated is an impatient hittter. If Hunter can be the hitter he is how much better would he be if he stayed in the strike zone? Or just layed off the pitchers around his eyes. Dont misunderstand I would like to have 2 Pence's— Don w
