Gabe Kapler confirmed the Phillies' Opening Day lineup vs. the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.
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"You guys saw a really good glimpse of it the last day of Spring Training," Kapler told the 94WIP Morning Show on Wednesday. "I'm not gonna swear that that's going to be our Opening Day lineup, but you're going to see Andrew McCutchen at the top. You're going to see Bryce in the three-hole, you're gonna see Rhys in the four-hole, you'll see J.T. behind him, you'll see Odubel right there in the middle and Cesar behind him, and Maikel Franco will take down that eight spot in the lineup. Segura will bat second."
On Thursday, the Phillies confirmed the official Opening Day lineup:
1. Andrew McCutchen, LF
2. Jean Segura, SS
3. Bryce Harper, RF
4. Rhys Hoskins, 1B
5. J.T. Realmuto, C
6. Odubel Herrera, CF
7. Cesar Hernandez, 2B
8. Maikel Franco, 3B
9. Aaron Nola, P
Kapler also said you can expect more "lineup consistency" this season.
"So that's what it will look like on Opening Day," said Kapler. "One of the things I think Phillies fans can look forward to is a little bit more lineup consistency this year and the reason for that is pretty simple, it's we have the personnel to run out a similar lineup on a daily basis. I'm not gonna say you're going to see it the same way every day, but certainly we're going to look for reps for Scott Kingery at third base, we'll look for him for reps in center field. Nick Williams is going to be a big time weapon for us off of the bench. We see him come up in the biggest situations when a right-handed pitcher is on the mound. You'll see us use Andrew Knapp as a pinch-hitter from time to time and you'll certainly Scott be used a lot. We have a deep roster, a deep lineup, we have a bench that I'm really proud of and we have some arms in Triple-A that we can reach down and grab when the season is in the middle of the Summer."
Kapler talked about the high expectations facing this new Phillies team.
"We can meet that bar," he said. "We want to be judged on what happens between the lines. This is a great team, a very well constructed, and I believe a team that can do great things."
The Phillies open the 2019 season on Thursday at 3:05pm on Citizens Bank Park against the Braves. You can hear the game, and all Phillies games, on 94.1 WIP-FM.
