Categories: News

Morning News: Dominguez delivers, Phils play Grapefruit opener

Here are this morning’s news bits:

PHILLIES WIN!: Okay, so it was against the University of Tampa (actually, forget that, because this once happened), but the Phillies are undefeated in 2018. They beat Tampa 9-0 at Spectrum Field on Thursday, relying on a bunch of singles and doubles to get them there.

If there was any breakout story from the extremely exhibition game, it was Seranthony Dominguez. The starter-turned-reliever can throw in the high 90s, complementing that plus pitch with a good slider. The good stuff was out Thursday, as after letting up a single, he struck out all three Tampa batters who followed. Meghan Montemurro at the Athletic has a good writeup of the outing, plus what Dominguez means for the Phils.

We’re not about to scream “future closer,” but the stuff translates to a late-innings role. He’s 23, on the 40-man roster (by necessity but also the Phils wanted to keep him) and put up a 10.8 K/9 ratio last year in Clearwater. It’s likely he starts the year in Reading and could be in Philly by the end of the season.

TODAY’S GAME: The Phillies open Grapefruit League play today against the Blue Jays in Dunedin. Gametime is 1:07 p.m. (radio: WIP). Here’s the lineup:

Scott Kingery 2B
Maikel Franco 3B
Cameron Rupp C
Nick Williams RF
Will Middlebrooks 1B
Pedro Florimon SS
Dylan Cozens LF
Collin Cowgill CF
Matt McBride DH

Starting on the mound is Nick Pivetta.

This weekend the Phils play their first home game in the Grapefruit (Saturday vs. Orioles) and then host the Yankees for the first time this spring (Sunday).

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.