Spring Training Gameday Thread, #11: 3/4 vs. Cubs

Diamondbacks line-up

1. David Peralta LF
2. A.J. Pollock CF
3. Paul Goldschmidt 1B
4. Jake Lamb 3B
5. Yasmany Tomas RF
6. Alex Avila C
7. Daniel Descalso 2B
8. Nick Ahmed SS
9. Jeff Mathis DH
   + Taijuan Walker P

Yes, you read that correctly: Jeff Mathis, designated hitter. I’m pretty sure Torey Lovullo is simply trolling a certain section of fandom with this choice. But otherwise, a good chunk of at least the top half of this line-up, will be what we see on Opening Day. Mathis will likely be there, but as Zack Greinke’s personal catcher, and I think a middle-infield combo of Ketel Marte and Chris Owings is more likely than Ahmed and Descalso, despite the rumblings from the team about Nick working to claim the starting shortstop role. Souza seems more likely to be in right than Tomas, but... Well, stranger things have happened in previous spring trainings. Someone unexpected usually breaks out. Why not Tomas?

Walker went an inning in his first start, giving up a run on two hits. He will likely be aiming to follow Zack Godley and see if he can get through three innings today. Plenty of chances for you to follow along, as this is on both TV and radio, albeit not in quite the usual place for either. It’s on Fox Sports Arizona’s PLUS channel [location for your cable or satellite provider here: it’s spring training for your remote control fingers, too!] while the radio version may be located on ESPN Phoenix 620. So you’ve no excuse.