By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies and No. 16-ranked club prospect LHP Cole Irvin, a non-roster invitee, will kick off 2019 Grapefruit League spring training action in opposition of RHP Austin Pruitt and the Tampa Bay Rays Friday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida.
Opening Day: The Rays open their spring training schedule today at 1pm when they host the Phillies in Port Charlotte. #fox35 pic.twitter.com/Pf8OfUCKPr
— Ryan Elijah (@ryanelijah) February 22, 2019
The game will take place just hours after Manny Machado, one of the Phillies' top free agent targets over the past few months, is introduced by the San Diego Padres following his 10-year, $300 million deal. While Bryce Harper still looms in free agency, the Phillies have moved on from Machado, and will take a look at Maikel Franco and Scott Kingery closely this spring at the hot corner. If both impress, a platoon situation could be likely for the 2019 season.
Center fielder Odubel Herrera (slight left hamstring strain) will be out; he took batting practice and threw long toss on Thursday, notes The Athletic's Meghan Montemurro. Phillies Manager Gabe Kapler said there is a "good possibility" Herrera could play in the third or fourth Grapefruit League game, but that they will "take that day by day and not make any predictions at this point."
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Philadelphia Phillies | Tampa Bay Rays | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Cole Irvin | RHP | Austin Pruitt | |
| (2018, Triple-A: 14-4, 2.57 ERA) | (2018, MLB: 2-3, 4.65 ERA) | |||
Irvin, 25, threw at least 150 innings in each of his two full seasons of pro ball — 2017 and 2018 — after being drafted in the fifth round of the 2016 amateur draft out of the University of Oregon. Last season, he led the Triple-A International League in ERA (2.57), while punching out 131 batters and yielding 35 walks spanning 26 appearances (25 starts) and 161 1/3 innings.
MLB Pipeline describes Irvin's pitching repertoire:
Irvin's success comes from his ability to use his four-pitch mix well to keep hitters guessing and off-balance, though his stuff largely grades out as Major League average. His fastball velocity did regress a bit in 2018, down to staying in the 90-91 mph range, showing the ability to throw his two-seamer down in the zone with sink to get ground-ball outs. His changeup, his best pitch, has improved, though, giving him one above-average offering. He mixes in two distinct breaking balls effectively.
Irvin throws all of his pitches for strikes, as evidenced by his career 2.0 BB/9 rate. His ceiling might be limited as a back-end starter, and there's not much margin for error given the nature of his stuff, but he's ready to show what he can do in the big leagues.
Pruitt, 29, made 23 relief appearances with the Rays in 2018, where in 69 2/3 innings, he yielded 72 hits, 40 runs (36 earned), seven home runs, 16 walks spanning 291 faced batters. He struck out 42 batters, while posting a 1.263 WHIP and 2.63 SO/W ratios.
Starting Lineups:
| Philadelphia Phillies | Tampa Bay Rays | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Roman Quinn | S | 1 | 2B | Daniel Robertson | R |
| 2 | SS | Scott Kingery | R | 2 | LF | Tommy Pham | R |
| 3 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R | 3 | 1B | Ji-Man Choi | L |
| 4 | LF | Nick Williams | L | 4 | 3B | Yandy Diaz | R |
| 5 | C | Andrew Knapp | S | 5 | CF | Kevin Kiermaier | L |
| 6 | RF | Shane Robinson^ | R | 6 | SS | Willy Adames | R |
| 7 | 2B | Andrew Romine^ | S | 7 | C | Mike Zunino | R |
| 8 | DH | Dylan Cozens | L | 8 | DH | Jake Smolinski^ | R |
| 9 | 1B | Austin Listi^ | R | 9 | RF | Joe McCarthy | L |
^ non-roster invitee
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:05 p.m.
- TV: N/A
- Radio: 94 WIP
What's Next:
- Saturday, February 23, 2019: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 p.m.
- Spectrum Field (Clearwater)
- LHP Steven Brault (2018, MLB: 6-3, 4.61 ERA) vs. RHP Enyel De Los Santos (2018, MLB: 1-0, 4.74 ERA)
- TV: NBCSP+; Radio: 94 WIP
