By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
With exactly one week until Opening Day, the Philadelphia Phillies (10-15-2) will take on the Ron Gardenhire-led Detroit Tigers (9-14-4) for the third time this spring, as right-hander Jake Arrieta makes his club debut opposite southpaw Matthew Boyd Thursday afternoon at Spectrum Field.
The Phillies are coming off of a 2-0 rain-shortened win on Tuesday, and a 7-7 tie on Wednesday, in a home-and-away set against the Toronto Blue Jays. On Wednesday, Phillies left fielder Rhys Hoskins hit his third and fourth home runs of the spring, while non-roster invitee Scott Kingery went yard for the fourth time in an eight-inning pinch-hit appearance. Right-handed starter Nick Pivetta tossed two scoreless frames and allowed no hits or walks.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Detroit Tigers (9-14-4) | Philadelphia Phillies (10-15-2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Matthew Boyd | RHP | Jake Arrieta | ||
| (3-0, 4.50 ERA) | (Phillies debut) | ||||
Boyd, 27, will make his sixth spring start and his first road appearance since his Feb. 25 spring debut against the Blue Jays, the team that drafted him in the sixth round of the 2013 amateur draft out of Oregon State University.
The three-year veteran southpaw has tossed 14 innings this spring, allowing nine runs (seven earned) on 15 hits, one home run and five walks. Boyd has struck out 16 batters and limited opposing batters to a .268 average.
Boyd will be featured at the back-end of the Tigers' rotation in 2018, behind veteran arms in Jordan Zimmermann, Michael Fulmer, Francisco Liriano and Mike Fiers.
Arrieta, 32, will debut with the Phillies after spending three-plus seasons with the Baltimore Orioles (2010-2013) and four-plus seasons with the Chicago Cubs (2013-2017). Collectively in his Grapefruit and Cactus leagues spring training career since 2009, Arrieta has succeeded, going 9-1 with a 4.68 ERA and 100-38 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 32 appearances and 100 innings.
The Farmington, Missouri native threw 31-32 pitches last Saturday in a simulated game and is expected to throw around 50-60 pitches in his Thursday start. It is yet to be known whether Arrieta will be ready for the first week of the regular season, which kicks off a week from Thursday against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park.
Starting Lineups:
| Detroit Tigers (9-14-4) | Philadelphia Phillies (10-15-2) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | JaCoby Jones | R | 1 | SS | J.P. Crawford | L |
| 2 | 3B | Jeimer Candelario | S | 2 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 3 | 1B | Miguel Cabrera | R | 3 | 3B | Jesmuel Valentin | S |
| 4 | RF | Nicholas Castellanos | R | 4 | 2B | Scott Kingery* | R |
| 5 | DH | Mikie Mahtook | R | 5 | C | Andrew Knapp | S |
| 6 | C | John Hicks | R | 6 | DH | Nick Williams | L |
| 7 | LF | Christin Stewart | L | 7 | RF | Pedro Florimon | S |
| 8 | SS | Jose Iglesias | R | 8 | 3B | Adam Rosales* | R |
| 9 | 2B | Dixon Machado | R | 9 | LF | Roman Quinn | S |
* non-roster invitee
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:05 p.m.
- TV: NBCSP+
- Radio: MLB.com
Game Notes:
- The Tigers have struck out the fifth-most batters this spring, 246, trailing only the Houston Astros (266), Cubs (263), Cleveland Indians (259) and New York Yankees (258).
- The Phillies are tied with the Minnesota Twins in producing the second-fewest offensive hits this spring, 207. Only the Washington Nationals have less hits, 202.
- Non-roster invitee infielder Ryan Flaherty exercised his opt-out clause in his contract and was granted his unconditional release on Thursday. Flaherty was one of 10 remaining non-roster invitees in Phillies big league camp.
- On Wednesday, the Phillies traded infielder Eliezer Alvarez to the Texas Rangers for cash considerations. Alvarez was designated for assignment last week while adding Pedro Florimon to the 40-man roster. He replaces Ronald Herrera (right shoulder injury, 60-day disabled list) and joins Tommy Joseph on the Rangers' 40-man roster. The Phillies acquired Alvarez last September from the St. Louis Cardinals for RHP Juan Nicasio.
- The Phillies are (0-1-1) against the Tigers this spring, dropping their Feb. 27 matchup 11-6, and tying 6-6 in their most recent meeting on March 16. Both clubs will face off for the last time on Saturday, March 24, in Lakeland. The Phillies and Tigers will not meet in the regular season.
Spring Training Roster Breakdown, (entering March 22, 2018):
Total Major League Camp Roster: 41 players
40-Man Roster (40):
- Major League Camp (32):
- Left-handed pitchers (3): Zac Curtis, Hoby Milner, Adam Morgan
- Right-handed pitchers (15): Victor Arano, Jake Arrieta, Zach Eflin, Jerad Eickhoff, Luis Garcia, Tommy Hunter, Mark Leiter Jr., Ben Lively, Hector Neris, Pat Neshek, Aaron Nola, Nick Pivetta, Edubray Ramos, Jake Thompson, Vince Velasquez
- Catchers (3): Jorge Alfaro, Andrew Knapp, Cameron Rupp
- Infielders (5): J.P. Crawford, Maikel Franco, Cesar Hernandez, Carlos Santana, Jesmuel Valentin
- Outfielders (6): Aaron Altherr, Pedro Florimon, Odubel Herrera, Rhys Hoskins, Roman Quinn, Nick Williams
- Minor League Camp (8):
- Left-handed pitchers (1): Ranger Suarez
- Right-handed pitchers (6): Drew Anderson, Seranthony Dominguez, Franklyn Kilome, Ricardo Pinto, Yacksel Rios, Jose Taveras
- Catchers (0):
- Infielders (0):
- Outfielders (1): Dylan Cozens
Non-Roster Invitees (20):
- Major League Camp (9):
- Left-handed pitchers (0):
- Right-handed pitchers (4): Pedro Beato, Tom Eshelman, Drew Hutchison, Francisco Rodriguez
- Catchers (1): Matt McBride
- Infielders (3): Scott Kingery, Will Middlebrooks, Adam Rosales
- Outfielders (1): Collin Cowgill
- Minor League Camp (11):
- Left-handed pitchers (2): Cole Irvin, Brandon Leibrandt
- Right-handed pitchers (2): Enyel De Los Santos, J.D. Hammer
- Catchers (3): Edgar Cabral, Logan Moore, Nick Rickles
- Infielders (2): Heiker Meneses, Mitch Walding
- Outfielders (2): Danny Ortiz, Andrew Pullin
What's Next:
- Friday, March 23, 2018: at Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 p.m.
- LECOM Park, Bradenton, Fla.
- RHP Aaron Nola (1-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. LHP Steven Brault (2-0, 1.69 ERA)
- TV: N/A; Radio: MLB.com
