It’s time for the Phillies to be bold and kick off the season opener
Opening Day is upon us, and the Phillies are ready to Be Bold in their quest for a third World Series championship. Game 1 of 162 begins Thursday afternoon in Atlanta as two rebuilding National League East teams clash down south.
Aaron Nola will get his first opening day start, and Julio Teheran will take the mound for Atlanta.
Here’s all the information you need to follow opening day against the Atlanta Braves.
Date: March 29, 2018
First Pitch: 4:10 PM ET
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Stadium: SunTrust Park
Pitchers (2017 stats): Julio Tehran (11-13; 4.49 ERA; )Aaron Nola
Radio Station: 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Phils); 680AM/93.7FM, WYAY 106.7, Braves Radio Network, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
TV Channel: NBC Sports Philadelphia (Phils), FSSE (Braves)
Live Stream: MLB.tv, CSNPhilly.com, NBCSports App
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Starting Lineups
Phillies
- Cesar Hernandez, 2B
- Carlos Santana, 1B
- Nick Williams, RF
- Rhys Hoskins, LF
- Aaron Altherr, CF
- J.P. Crawford, SS
- Maikel Franco, 3B
- Andrew Knapp, C
- Aaron Nola, SP
Herrera is 5-27 lifetime against Teheran, while Altherr is 2-16 with nine strikeouts. Knapp’s ability to switch-hit likely gave him the advantage over Alfaro, who hit .375 against righties last year.
Braves
- Ender Inciarte, CF
- Ozzie Albies, 2B
- Freddie Freeman, 1B
- Nick Markakis, RF
- Tyler Flowers, C
- Preston Tucker, LF
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Ryan Flaherty, EB
- Julio Teheran, SP
Flaherty spent Spring Training with Philadelphia as a non-roster invitee fighting for a bench role. Despite hitting .351 with 13 hits, the 32-year-old lost the job to Pedro Florimon and Scott Kingery. Flaherty joined his brother-in-law Nick Markakis in Atlanta and played just one spring training game before being named the opening day third baseman.
Players to watch
Philadelphia: Maikel Franco has a .357 batting average in 28 at-bats against Teheran in his career, but has a .235 average against the Braves.
Braves: Freddie Freeman is 6-16 against Aaron Nola, and owns a career .291 batting average against the Philadelphia.
What you need to know
The Phillies are 5-5 in their last 10 opening day games, but are just 2-3 in their last five. They’ve also started a different player in each corner outfield spot over the last nine years, courtesy of Matt Gelb.
Phillies Opening Day LF:
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) March 29, 2018
2011 - Ibanez
2012 - Mayberry
2013 - Brown
2014 - Gwynn
2015 - Revere
2016 - Hunter
2017 - Kendrick
2018 - Hoskins
There’s a subtle reminder that Cedric Hunter, Tony Gwynn Jr., Peter Bourjos, and Ben Francisco were opening day corner outfielders.
Next: Phillies top Opening Day performance of last ten years
You can find the opening day 25-man roster for the Phillies here, and follow the game on our social media pages.