Arizona Diamondbacks’ Opening Day lineup vs. Dodgers has surprises
Mar 30, 2023, 4:16 PM
Torey Lovullo of the Arizona Diamondbacks stands outside the dugout during seventh the inning of the Spring Training game against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 12, 2023 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
(Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
The Arizona Diamondbacks released their lineup card for Thursday’s Opening Day action in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
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— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 30, 2023
The lineup features a few surprises when it comes to the traditional nine players to expect for most games but accounts for the fact that the Dodgers will be putting out left-handed pitcher Julio Urias on the bump.
Right-handed bat Kyle Lewis leads off after having an awesome spring while righty Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s place in the heart of the order puts him in left field, where rookie Corbin Carroll is expected to spend the majority of 2023. He shifts to center, leaving left-handed bat Alek Thomas as the odd man out. Gurriel, for reference, has a career .812 OPS against lefties while Thomas’ sits at .471 in a small sample size of 96 plate appearances last season in his rookie campaign.
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The same sort of thinking goes behind the man in the five-hole, Evan Longoria, but in a different way when it comes to third base and Josh Rojas. The veteran Longoria’s career .868 OPS mark versus left-handed pitching still sat at a solid .812 last season, while Rojas as a left-handed hitter sees less of a drop-off in his splits, so it’s more about capitalizing on Longoria’s strengths there.
Gabriel Moreno gets the catching nod and is expected to handle a big role right away after the injury in spring training to Carson Kelly that could sideline him for at least two months.
First pitch is at 7:10 p.m., and the game will air on 98.7, the Arizona Sports app and ArizonaSports.com.
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