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Brandon Hyde is going to put the exact same Orioles lineup from Opening Day on the field for the second game of the year. Why not? After all, it did get the job done on a day when Nathan Eovaldi seemed to have all of his stuff working.
The Red Sox will turn to rookie Tanner Houck today. MLB Pipeline has the 24-year-old right-hander as the club’s seventh-best prospect. The first-round pick out of the University of Missouri back in 2017 features a four-pitch arsenal, including a two-seam fastball that sits in the low-90s and a sweeping slider in the low-80s. All of the offerings come from a somewhat funky low arm slot that has proved difficult for Houck to maintain at times in the minors.
That said, Houck had an impressive debut with the Red Sox late last summer. He started three games and allowed one run over 17 total innings to go with 21 strikeouts and nine walks. Opponents hit just .113 against him in that time.
Matt Harvey heads to the mound in the regular season for the first time as an Oriole. His recent big league struggles are well documented, and it’s unlikely that Hyde will give him too long of a leash. What’s helpful is that the Baltimore bullpen should be quite fresh following John Means’s seven shutout innings on Friday. Could this be the day that one (or both) of the Rule 5 selections make their big league debut?
First pitch is set for 1:10 ET, and the game can be seen on both MASN and MASN2 in-market while MLB Network will be broadcasting out-of-market. The Boston forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 48 degrees. Sounds like April baseball in the northeast!
Orioles Starting Lineup
- Cedric Mullins, CF
- Trey Mancini, 1B
- Anthony Santander, RF
- Ryan Mountcastle, DH
- Rio Ruiz, 2B
- Austin Hays, LF
- Maikel Franco, 3B
- Freddy Galvis, SS
- Pedro Severino, C
RHP Matt Harvey
Red Sox Starting Lineup
- Kiké Hernández, CF
- Alex Verdugo, RF
- J.D. Martinez, DH
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Rafael Devers, 3B
- Marwin Gonzalez, 2B
- Bobby Dalbec, 1B
- Franchy Cordero, LF
- Kevin Plawecki, C
RHP Tanner Houck