It is Day 6 of spring training, when, for the first time, hitters will face pitchers in live batting practice sessions. The exercise sounds a lot cooler on paper than in practice. Many of the hitters will not swing the bat, instead using the session to stand in the box and get acclimated to recognizing and timing pitches. The younger guys tend to be less patient.
Throughout the spring, we'll take a stab at projecting what the 25-man Opening Day roster will look like. What follows is our first attempt.
STARTING LINEUP
- Jimmy Rollins SS (ODDS OF MAKING ROSTER/DL: 100 percent)
- Michael Young 3B (100 percent)
- Chase Utley 2B (100 percent)
- Ryan Howard 1B (100 percent)
- Darin Ruf LF (60 percent)
- Domonic Brown RF (65 percent)
- Erik Kratz C (95 percent)
- Ben Revere CF (100 percent)
STARTING ROTATION
- Cole Hamels LHP (100 percent)
- Roy Halladay RHP (100 percent)
- Cliff Lee LHP (100 percent)
- Kyle Kendrick RHP (100 percent)
- John Lannan LHP (95 percent)
BULLPEN
- Jonathan Papelbon RHP/CL (100 percent)
- Mike Adams RHP/SU (100 percent)
- Antonio Bastardo LHP/SU (98 percent)
- Chad Durbin RHP/MID (100 percent)
- Jeremy Horst LHP/MID (75 percent)
- Justin De Fratus RHP/MID (50 percent)
- Raul Valdes LHP/MID (50 percent)
BENCH
- Laynce Nix OF-1B/LHB (95 percent)
- Kevin Frandsen 3B-2B/RHB (95 percent)
- Humberto Quintero C/RHB (50 percent)
- Freddy Galvis SS-2B-3B/SHB (70 percent)
- John Mayberry Jr. OF-1B/RHB (80 percent)
DISABLED LIST
- Delmon Young - OF/RHB (100 percent)
BREAKDOWN: The Phillies sound as if they expect Delmon Young to begin the season on the disabled list, which takes some drama out of an intense outfield battle. . .Mayberry seems likely to make the team as he is out of options and is one of the few members of the organization who has major league experience in center field, although Laynce Nix has played the position and Rule 5 pick Ender Inciarte will look to make the Phillies make a difficult decision on Mayberry. . .Young starting the season on the DL would leave the last few spots in the bullpen as the tightest roster battle. Mike Stutes, Jake Diekman and Phillippe Aumont would be the last three players off the roster in this scenario.