Orioles young phenom Manny Machado will bat second in Buck Showalter‘s Opening Day lineup against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun adds that Steve Pearce will be the O’s designated hitter against David Price.
Machado never batted higher than the six hole last season, spending most of his plate appearances (78) in the eighth spot. He’s also never faced David Price in the regular season, but hit .280/.321/.480 against left handed pitching last season.
MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko speculates that Nolan Reimold will get the start over Nate McLouth in left field tomorrow.
Here’s the full Opening Day lineup:
RF – Nick Markakis
3B – Manny Machado
CF – Adam Jones
C – Matt Wieters
1B – Chris Davis
SS – J.J. Hardy
LF – Nolan Reimold
DH – Steve Pearce
2B – Brian Roberts
Nice!