By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The 2017 Philadelphia Phillies will take the field for the first time Thursday afternoon in the annual exhibition opener against the University of Tampa Spartans at Spectrum Field.
It will be the Phillies' third meeting against the Spartans since 2015, who are 7-2 this season and currently rank No. 7 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll for NCAA Division II. The Phillies fell 6-2 to the Spartans in 2015, but rebounded last season in a 8-3 victory.
Starting for the Phillies will be RHP Mark Leiter Jr., who was not invited to big-league camp. Leiter is the son of former Phillies right-hander from 1997-98, Mark Leiter. He is also the nephew to three-time World Series champion southpaw, Al Leiter. The 25-year-old appeared in 17 starts and six relief appearances last season for Double-A Reading.
The Phillies' exhibition-opener lineup will feature five non-roster invitees and four players on their 40-man roster: center fielder Roman Quinn, right fielder Dylan Cozens, left fielder Nick Williams and catcher Jorge Alfaro. With top prospect J.P. Crawford getting the starting nod at short, and first baseman Rhys Hoskins — who hit 38 home runs and 116 RBIs last season at Double-A Reading — batting cleanup, the game will collectively be a promising glimpse as to what fans will soon see at Citizens Bank Park.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| University of Tampa Spartans | Philadelphia Phillies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Nick Nolan | RHP | Mark Leiter Jr. | ||
| (0-0, 18.00 ERA) | (2016: 6-3, 3.39 ERA) | ||||
Starting Lineups:
| University of Tampa Spartans | Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | SS | Kevin Santa | L | 1 | CF | Roman Quinn^ | S |
| 2 | RF | Danny Lee | L | 2 | SS | J.P. Crawford* | L |
| 3 | 2B | Laz Rivera | R | 3 | RF | Dylan Cozens^ | L |
| 4 | 3B | J.D. Osborne | R | 4 | 1B | Rhys Hoskins* | R |
| 5 | 1B | Adrian Chacon | R | 5 | LF | Nick Williams^ | L |
| 6 | DH | Vincent Cosenzo | L | 6 | C | Jorge Alfaro^ | R |
| 7 | LF | Connor Crile | L | 7 | 2B | Scott Kingery* | R |
| 8 | C | Chris Gaffney | R | 8 | 3B | Hector Gomez* | R |
| 9 | CF | Richie Rivera | R | 9 | DH | Andrew Pullin* | L |
* indicates non-roster invitee, ^ indicates player on 40-man roster
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:05 p.m.
- Watch: Video webcast
- TV: N/A, Radio: N/A
Game Notes:
- The Phillies' Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11 and 13-ranked prospects by MLBPipeline.com will be in the starting lineup.
- Rain shortened the Phillies' workout on Wednesday. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said the team "did not work on any real fundamentals," but got all the work they needed.
- Phillies 22-year-old prospect RHP Victor Arano (non-roster invitee) was shut down for a month on Wednesday with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Had received a platelet-rich plasma injection and will attempt to avoid Tommy John surgery through rehab.
What's Next:
- Friday, Feb. 24, 2017: at New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m.
- George M. Steinbrenner Field (Tampa)
- RHP Alec Asher (2016: 2-1, 2.28 ERA) vs. RHP Bryan Mitchell (2016: 1-2, 3.24 ERA)
- TV: MLBN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
