Opening Day Roster (oops... out of order)
To go back and give you a quick look at who made the Opening Day 25...
Starting lineup is mostly easy, except for LF (
Ed. fallout from chickening out about the DH).
- C Lance Parrish
- 1B Andre Thornton
- 2B Jim Gantner/Julio Cruz
- SS U.L. Washington
- 3B Don Money
- LF (see below)
- CF Dale Murphy
- RF Gorman Thomas
In LF, Willie Wilson and Brian Downing batle for the spot. It depends what you look for -- Downing is across-the-board solid (12-14 in all categories); Wilson is a much better contact hitter, but little power and not much of a batting eye. Personally, I prefer Wilson, but in a futile attempt to keep both guys happy, I'll make a platoon out of them and start Wilson against righties and Downing against lefties. Problem... well, not solved, but punted down the road a ways. (And punted a few days further by the fact that Downing has shoulder tendonitis.)
The bench is a motley cast of characters. Downing would normally also serve as the backup catcher, but with him out for a little bit (retroactive, but still), Buck Martinez gets the call. I'm carrying three infielders -- Julio Cruz, Todd Cruz, and Joe Pittman. I give J. Cruz starts at second against lefties to give Gantner a break. In the outfield, I'll have Jeffrey Leonard as my fourth OF and Marshall Edwards as my fifth. I'd almost rather have Leonard at AAA, but he's out of options. Either Edwards, Pittman, or Martinez will get sent down when Downing comes back.
The starting rotation is also fairly clear. Steve Rogers, John Tudor, Mike Moore, and Pascual Perez all have jobs waiting for them. The fifth starter is a little more up in the air, but Jerry Ujdur gets the first crack at it, with Scott McGregor waiting in the wings.
The bullpen is anchored by Rich Gossage, with Bill Caudill and Willie Hernandez handling the 7th and 8th as needed. Scott McGregor and Tommy John are my long guys, and the 11th spot goes to Vicente Romo -- for now. Romo gets the call because he can refuse assignment and become a free agent and also because some of the other guys who could take his slot (Steve Bedrosian, Dave Beard) could use a little marinade time in the minors. So Romo for now, but with the caveat that he's on a REALLY short leash.