Posted by Erik Seybold.
At 1:05 this afternoon, the Phillies and the New York Yankees will play each other in the first Grapefruit League game of the 2012 season. The stakes aren't as high due to the fact that it's a Spring Training game, but it's also important to see how the younger players develop in the live-game atmosphere.
Cole Hamels (2011: 14-9, 2.79 ERA) will get the start for the Phillies this afternoon. Hamels will be taking on a young, non-regular Yankees team. The only regular will be Raul Ibanez who will DH and hit cleanup. Yankees regulars like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Texeira will not be in the lineup. The 28 year-old Hamels is entering his final contracted season as a Phillie. Although, Hamels did agree to a one-year, $15MM extension in January, the Phillies and Hamels have been discussing a long-term deal. Hamels will become a free agent at the end of the season if there is no deal in place between the two parties.
The Phillies will send out a major league lineup against the Yankees' righthander Ivan Nova (2011: 16-4, 3.70 ERA). Although the scheduled starters may get just one or two at bats today, it will be good to see the Phillies' lineup again. Jim Thome will be in a Phillies lineup today – the first time he's been in one since the 2005 season. Bright House Field should be packed to the brim today, as thousands of Phillies fans migrate to Clearwater for the month-long training period.
This is only the beginning of the Grapefruit League, and there's just a month's worth of baseball left to be played before Opening Day.
You can catch the game on CSN Philly today @ 1:05 PM ET.
Here's today's lineup vs the Yankees:
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Shane Victorino CF
- Hunter Pence RF
- Jim Thome DH
- Ty Wiggington 3B
- John Mayberry Jr. 1B
- Domonic Brown LF
- Eric Kratz C
- Michael Martinez 2B
- Cole Hamels P.
Let's Go Phillies!
Erik Seybold is a Contributor to Philliedelphia. You can follow him on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI.
