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- Socrates Brito, CF
- Ketel Marte, 2B
- Eduardo Escobar, 3B
- David Peralta, LF
- Steven Souza Jr, RF
- Jake Lamb, 1B
- Yasmany Tomas, DH
- Nick Ahmed, SS
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Alex Avila, C
+ Nick Green, P
The opening line-up of spring, and it’s mostly a familiar set of names, with the probable exception of Rule 5 pick Green, who’ll be making his Diamondbacks’ debut on the mound. The other interesting thing is seeing Marte NOT playing in center field, but his more regular position of second. According to Torey Lovullo, “There’s a strategy to everything we do so we have a schedule mapped out for him. At some point, you’re going to see him rotate out to the outfield. What that exact date is — I don’t have that right now.” It does appear to be scheduled for about a week into spring, and I’m sure the scrutiny will be intense. There will be gaffes and mis-reads, make no mistake about it. I’m fine with this: it’s a process.
No such delay for Lamb, who gets dropped straight in to replace Paul Goldschmidt at first-base. The other potential candidate there, Tomas, gets to concentrate purely on his hitting today, though with it being the first game, I doubt anyone listed above will be around much after the end of the fifth inning. Still, it’s actual Diamondbacks baseball, being played by actual Diamondbacks. and we haven’t seen that for what seems like forever. As ever, I’m sure the novelty will wear off, and we’ll eventually be chomping at the bit for “meaningful games.” For now, though, let’s just enjoy what seems to be a considerably more pleasant day, weather-wise, than it has been!
First pitch is at 1:05 pm, and this game is on the radio, 98.7 FM Arizona Sports. No television, but Jack is at the game, so will be contributing an eyewitness report later in the day.