Reds (3-3) at Dodgers (ss) (2-3-1)
12:05pm, Camelback Ranch, Glendale, AZ
Two of the best young arms in all of baseball are scheduled to pitch today at Camelback Ranch, as the Dodgers face the Reds. Clayton Kershaw, who turns 22 next Friday, will start for the Dodgers, while 22-year old Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman is also expected to pitch for the Reds. Bronson Arroyo will start for Cincinnati, but Chapman is slated to pitch two innings behind him, per Mister Redlegs of Red Letter Daze.
In a state with numerous speed cameras on the freeways (beware if you are headed out for spring training), the most eye-popping numbers came from Chapman's last appearance, when he cracked the 100 mph barrier a few times. Slyde, over at Red Reporter, analyzed Chapman's performance, as well as the meaning of the magical 100 mph plateau.
Garret Anderson's spring Dodger debut will be Sunday, and won't be at designated hitter, says ESPN L.A.'s Tony Jackson. Anderson will either play first base, where he has been taking ground balls, or in the outfield.
Here are the lineups, which include the first start of the spring (in an "A" game, at least) for Ivan DeJesus::
| Reds | Dodgers | |||
| CF | Stubbs | SS | Furcal | |
| SS | Cabrera | C | Ausmus | |
| DH | Votto | RF | Ethier | |
| 2B | Phillips | CF | Kemp | |
| 3B | Rolen | 3B | Blake | |
| RF | Bruce | 1B | Mientkiewicz | |
| LF | Gomes | DH | Ellis | |
| C | Hernandez | LF | Repko | |
| 1B | Frazier | 2B | DeJesus | |
| P | Arroyo | P | Kershaw | |
Todd Frazier is batting ninth and playing first base for the Reds today. In the regular season, the only Red since 1954 (the Retrosheet Era) to bat ninth in a regular season game was Sean Casey, on June 24, 1998. Of course, with no designated hitter it's hard to find many non-pitchers hitting ninth for the vast majority of that time. However, the Reds did only have a first baseman bat eighth just 69 times in the last 56 seasons.
Scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers today behind Kershaw are Carlos Monasterios, Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, and Luis Ayala. Monasterios, like Armando Zerpa, is a Rule 5 pick trying to make the club. From the game notes:
Since 1981, the Dodgers have selected 11 players in the Rule 5 draft and only three players have made the Opening Day roster, including D.J. Houlton, who remained with the club for the entire 2005 season. Both Frank Lankford (1998) and Jose Antonio Nuñez (2001) were offered back to their original clubs before the All-Star break.
The Dodger minor leaguers on today's roster are Angelo Songco, Pedro Baez, and Scott Van Slyke.
The scheduled pitchers for the Reds today are Arroyo, Chapman, Francisco Cordero, Carlos Fisher, Ramon Geronimo, Micah Owings, Jordan Smith, and Philippe Valiquette.
Tomorrow in Tucson to face the Diamondbacks, the Dodger pitchers scheduled to throw are Chad Billingsley, Scott Elbert, Eric Gagne, Justin Miller, and Brent Leach. Kevin Mulvey will get the start for Arizona.
Here is the box score from this morning's game in Taiwan.
Bus service between Union Station and Dodger Stadium is back on for 2010, writes Zach Behrens of LAist.
TV: Prime Ticket