Morning news: Arrieta debuts today
TODAY’S GAME: The big story today is the Phillies debut of Jake Arrieta. The righty will take the mound against the Tigers at 1 p.m. We’re unsure just how many innings Arrieta will go, but figure he’ll throw somewhere around 50 pitches.
The lineup:
- Crawford – SS
- Herrera – CF
- Valentin – 3B
- Kingery – 2B
- Knapp – C
- Williams – DH
- Florimon – RF
- Rosales – 1B
- Quinn – LF
YESTERDAY’S GAME: And hey, yesterday’s game was relatively big news, too. The Phillies tied the Blue Jays (meh) at 7-7 but saw pretty darn good offensive returns. Rhys Hoskins hit two home runs and walked; he now has a 1.066 OPS this spring. Surpassing that OPS yesterday was Scott Kingery, who added a pinch-hit home run. He is at 1.151.
Nick Pivetta started and threw 53 pitches over two innings, striking out one. The bullpen got in a ton of work, with Edubray Ramos and Hoby Milner giving up runs. Victor Arano lowered his spring ERA to 2.45 with a two perfect innings.
LIVELY STUFF: You’re going to have to read Ben Harris’ piece on what makes Ben Lively stand out. In short, Lively’s height, quick release and pitch location give him an edge where others rely on velocity and sheer stuff. It sheds a lot of light on a pitcher we may be undervaluing a bit.
A TRADE: And the Phillies on Wednesday traded infielder Eliezer Alvarez to Texas for cash considerations. Alvarez was acquired last year in the outstanding Juan Nicasio trade; now, he brings back cash.
