It's a miserable looking Friday afternoon in Chicago but it's Opening Day as Wrigley Field kicks off it's 100th season. For those in search of a good baseball book, George Will's A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field a One Hundred is a very nice read. Their home season begins with a visit from the home squad.
Roberto Hernandez makes his Phillies debut this afternoon. Hernandez had a rather mediocre spring training pitching to a 5.29 ERA in five games but should chew up some frames in the middle of the Phillies' rotation. As the Phillies find analytics, Hernandez was the first signing that suggested that his HR/Fly Ball ratio was a bit unlucky and maybe he'd be a nice fit for the Phillies from the bottom of the pile. We shall see.
Starting for the Cubs is Travis Wood who is most famous in the Phillies' world for almost pitching a perfect game against them when he was with the Reds a few seasons ago. Since being traded to the Cubs, he's been a consistent starter for them. Former Phillie Nate Schierholtz is batting clean up for the Cubbies this afternoon and baseball's hottest hitter of the young season, Emilio Bonifacio (.688/.706/.813) with 11 hits in the first three games leads off.
Game Notes:
- Jayson Nix starts at shortstop, replacing Jimmy Rollins who was scratched and is still not with the club following the birth of his daughter.
- Carlos Ruiz returns to batting second where he went 2-4 with a walk on Wednesday night.
- Expect another slugfest today
LINE UPS
PHILLIES
Ben Revere 8
Carlos Ruiz 2
Chase Utley 4
Marlon Byrd 9
Ryan Howard 3
Domonic Brown 7
Jayson Nix 6
Cody Asche 5
Roberto Hernandez 1
CUBS
Emilio Bonifacio 8
Starlin Castro 6
Anthony Rizzo 3
Nate Schierholz 9
Luis Valbuena 5
Wellington Castillo 2
Ryan Sweeney 7
Darwin Barney 4
Travis Wood 1
