The Orioles are headed a half hour down the road to Bradenton, and they’re bringing a lot of their regulars with them. Six of the players in today’s lineup are guys who will be on the Opening Day roster, and possibly seven, depending how you feel about Jeremiah Jackson’s chances. Pete Alonso, Adley Rutschman, and Taylor Ward are among the crew making the trip.
So too is Trevor Rogers, the newly anointed Opening Day starter. Rogers has pitched very well in his two Grapefruit League starts, working
five scoreless innings, but he got knocked around by Team Netherlands in a WBC exhibition on March 3, giving up six runs in 2.1 innings. For whatever reason, he hasn’t pitched in a game since then.
This will be Rogers’ second-to-last exhibition start before his Opening Day assignment, though the schedule doesn’t quite line up for him to pitch on regular rest. The opener is in 12 days, so if he pitches again five days from now, he’ll have a week of rest before Opening Day. Or he’ll need extra rest after this start if he wants to be on four days’ rest for the opener. It’s probably not a big deal, just something worth keeping an eye on.
Orioles lineup:
LF Taylor Ward
C Adley Rutschman
1B Pete Alonso
CF Colton Cowser
SS Blaze Alexander
2B Jeremiah Jackson
RF Dylan Beavers
DH Bryan Ramos
3B Weston Wilson
LHP Trevor Rogers
