Before Sunday's game against the Tigers, Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg officially named Cole Hamels the teams' Opening Day starter for the April 6th game against Boston. Aaron Harang will follow Hamels in the rotation.
Sandberg stated the obvious. Hamels on opening day. Harang game 2. He also said Revere now the LFer
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN) March 29, 2015
The Phillies manager didn't comment on who will slot behind Hamels and Harang in the rotation, but David Buchanan will more than likely lock in the three spot with Jerome Williams starting the day after him. The fifth spot is still up in the air as we move along through the end of spring training.
Perhaps the biggest development here is the announcement came after the game, when Sandberg named Ben Revere as Phillies starting left fielder moving forward. This comes after Revere robbed Rajai Davis of a home run with a spectacular jumping catch at the wall on Sunday afternoon.
Revere's new spot in the outfield makes things a little interesting. First of all, it does look like Odubel Herrera will be the Phillies starting center fielder on Opening Day. The Phillies Rule-5 selection went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Sunday against the Tigers, but is hitting .321 this spring with six steals, which leads the team. Beyond that, if Revere retains the left field spot, that is one less spot for Darin Ruf to be involved in a platoon. With Domonic Brown likely sidelined for a couple of weeks to start the season, Ruf could see some time in right, though he's been limited to left field and first base primarily. The right field spot as of right now is wide open until Brown returns.
As spring training winds down, we will get a clearer picture as to who joins the Phillies in the outfield mix, whether it be Grady Sizemore, Jeff Fanceour or Brian Bogusevic.
