For one night at least, the Orioles are trying something different with their starting lineup. The top of the order has been shaken up with Joey Rickard getting the night off. In Rickard's absence, Manny Machado is your leadoff batter and shortstop, while .300 OBP man Jonathan Schoop is batting second.
It looks weird, and that's without even getting into things like Pedro Alvarez getting another start at third base and Hyun Soo Kim being freed from the bench for the night. Why does Kim get a crack at Collin McHugh when he did not get one against soft-tossing Jered Weaver or Doug Fister? That is one of those mysteries.
Here is the full starting nine that will be lining up behind Tyler Wilson:
1. Manny Machado - SS
2. Jonathan Schoop - 2B
3. Adam Jones - CF
4. Chris Davis - 1B
5. Mark Trumbo - DH
6. Matt Wieters - C
7. Pedro Alvarez - 3B
8. Nolan Reimold - RF
9. Hyun Soo Kim - LF
This is decidedly something different. I guess you gotta try something different on principle the day after getting just eight hits while striking out 19 times in a 13 inning game.
It's the first game off for Rickard out of the last 14 O's games. Schoop will be batting second for only the second time in his career. The other time was May 23, 2014 when Schoop was sandwiched between Nick Markakis and Jones. Big jump up the lineup for a guy who has most frequently been batting eighth.
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