Phillies, Pirates Square Off In Spring Opener

Today the Phillies open their Spring schedule in Bradenton against the Pirates.

Jamie Moyer goes for the Phillies while Ian Snell toes the rubber for the Buccos. The Phils will also send Joe Blanton, Joe Bisenius, Scott Nestor, Joe Borkowski, Mike Koplove and Jake Woods to the mound. The latter five are bullpen candidates, but think of their chances in order of pitching, and even Bisenius and Nestor aren’t favorites to make the club.

The lineup is close to standard, with Matt Stairs taking designated hitter, Geoff Jenkins playing right field and Eric Bruntlett and Jason Donald playing third base and second base, respectively, for the rehabbing Pedro Feliz and Chase Utley.

Gametime is 1:05 p.m.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.