The Atlanta Braves (0-1) host the Houston Astros (0-0) at 1:05 at Lake Buena Vista today.
Braves Lineup:
1. Martin Prado, LF
2. Nate McLouth, CF
3. Chipper Jones, DH
4. Brian McCann, C
5. Dan Uggla, 2B
6. Jason Heyward, RF
7. Alex Gonzalez, SS
8. Eric Hinske, 1B
9. Brandon Hicks, 3B
Derek Lowe, SP
The pitching lineup is Lowe, Scott Linebrink, George Sherrill, Cory Gearrin, Anthony Varvaro, Juan Abreu, Brett Oberholtzer.
This is almost the regular lineup that Fredi Gonzalez is supposedly running on Opening Day, with the exception of Hinske for Freddie Freeman and Jones in at third. McLouth in the second spot just makes my blood boil thinking about the wasted outs it will cause, but I hate to repeat myself over and over.
I'm not sure of the bench players offensively that will play, but minor leaguers worth keeping an eye on that will see time on the mound are Gearrin, Varvaro, Abreu and Oberholtzer. Of the four, Oberholtzer is ranked the highest on prospect lists, ranging from eighth to mid-teens, while Gearrin and Abreu are considered between 20-30th best in the system. Varvaro and Abreu have both seen action already, and Abreu was a little shaky in his first outing.
According to David O'Brien, Chipper's knee bounced back well from yesterday's game. He is apparently not good enough to play third but still play back-to-back games.