Opening Day Preview: Phillies at Rangers

The 2014 season kicks off on Monday, as the Phillies open on a road trip, visiting the American League's Texas Rangers. The newly renamed Globe Life Park will play host to both clubs' initial series of the season.

While the core of the Phillies lineup has looked the same for several years, the Rangers have new additions leading the charge into the 2014 season, namely Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo. Their first real test in their new uniforms will come against a familiar figure.

Phils ace Cliff Lee will be making his first return to the Texas mound since he pitched for the Rangers in the 2010 World Series. Rangers hurler Tanner Scheppers will be making his debut as a starter after shining out of the bullpen last season.

Weather forecasts call for 80 degrees and partly cloudy on Monday in Arlington. The teams will play two more games against one another there on Wednesday and Thursday.

Read ahead for details on the pitching match up plus plenty more stats.

Monday, 2:05pm. Cliff Lee (14-8, 2.87 ERA in 2013) vs. Tanner Scheppers (6-2, 1.88 ERA in 2013). In 16 road starts last season, the lefty Lee posted a 7-3 record along with a 2.43 ERA. Lee had a 2-1 record in three starts against interleague opponents last year. In his career against Lee, Adrian Beltre is 4-for-32 (.125 avg). Scheppers, a right-hander, was the Rangers' 1st round (44th overall) draft choice in 2009. The 27-year-old Scheppers was 3-0 with a 2.85 ERA in 42 home games last season.

Ben Revere is 13-for-42 (.310 avg) in his career at Texas. Revere batted .294 in 21 spring training games this year.

Marlon Byrd is a career .305 hitter with 25 homers and 123 RBI at Globe Life Park. Byrd batted .298 in 21 games this spring.

In 22 games against Texas in his career, Ryan Howard is a .273 hitter with two homers and three RBI. Howard batted .234 in 45 road games in 2013.

Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo went 3-for-19 (.158 avg) against the Phillies last season. Choo batted .161 in 20 games this spring.

Prince Fielder went 1-for-12 (.083 avg) against the Phillies last season. Fielder batted .225 with a double and no RBI in the postseason last year.

Geovany Soto batted .307 with seven home runs and 16 RBI at the Ballpark in Arlington last season. The righty batting Soto batted just .200 against lefties last year.

Comments

Kendrick & LaGrossa- Second Phils/Survivor Marriage

On Saturday, Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick married 3-time Survivor contestant and former Flyers employee Stephenie LaGrossa. The couple exchanged vows in front of 105 guests at the Silverado Resort in Napa, California. Their special day featured many personalized aspects, including cocktail hour snacks modeled in the fashion of mini Philly cheesesteaks, as well as the couple's two dogs, Bebe and Champ, serving as flower girl and ring bearer during the ceremony. The pets wore a white dress and a tuxedo, respectively. Kendrick is now the second Phillies pitcher to marry a former contestant of the CBS reality competition program, as lefty Cole Hamels wedded Heidi Strobel, who appeared on the sixth season of Survivor, in 2007. _________________________________________________________________ Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter, for updates, stats and info, by clicking HERE . Photos- People.com

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog