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Here's your first Phillies lineup of 2017

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies intend to showcase their youth early in this protracted spring, and Pete Mackanin's first lineup posted Wednesday morning inside the Spectrum Field clubhouse, reflected just that. He'll play a prospect at almost every position in Thursday's exhibition opener against the University of Tampa.

"I want to see the young guys play as much I can, especially early in the spring," Mackanin said. "The guys who are most likely to be on the team are the least of my worries. I know what they can do. They're going to get a little more playing time as we go. But I want to see the new guys and I want to see the young guys."

So Roman Quinn, J.P. Crawford, Dylan Cozens, Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Scott Kingery and Andrew Pullin will start in the seven-inning scrimmage. Hector Gomez, a non-roster invitee who played last season in South Korea will be at third base. Mark Leiter Jr., a pitcher in minor-league camp, will start.

There is time for everyone else. Plenty of time. The first of 36 Grapefruit League games is Friday in Tampa against the Yankees. Mackanin will hold regulars like Maikel Franco, Cameron Rupp, Freddy Galvis, Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders from that game, too.

Mackanin said there was not one thing he was most curious to see in the spring games. He will pay attention to see if the team's hitting approach evolves after an unproductive 2016.

"That's a long process," Mackanin said. "It takes a while for all of that to settle in. When you hit a certain way your whole life or your thought process is a certain way your whole life, it's hard to make changes because you're out of your comfort zone. The important thing is for the players to buy into what Matt Stairs is selling. If they do that, I think we're going to improve."

Here is Mackanin's first lineup of the spring:

1. Roman Quinn CF
2. J.P. Crawford SS
3. Dylan Cozens RF
4. Rhys Hoskins 1B
5. Nick Williams LF
6. Jorge Alfaro C
7. Scott Kingery 2B
8. Hector Gomez 3B
9. Andrew Pullin DH

The game will be streamed by the University of Tampa here.