Going up against Cease with that lineup definitely has me expecting the worst and hoping for the best.
I hope the hitters are patient, because they gotta get into that 30th ranked bullpen.
I never got to see Tony Oliva play other than to hit ground balls to the BAA teams that his grandsons were on. My son ended up on the same traveling basketball team as one of his grandsons one season. He came to a lot of the tournaments both home and away. He's so nice to every parent and child from the other teams that would recognize him and want a picture. His son Ric that played the guitar when Mudcat Grant sang "What a Wonderful World" at Harmon Killebrew's memorial is really nice guy as well.
Definitely raising an eyebrow at Larnach in the 8 hole. He's been the hot hand and absolutely crushed a homer off a lefty on Monday. I also hope it works out.
I guess I'd rather have him sit Buxton early against a tough RHP on a team that has only scored 9 runs in 5 games. Castro for Kepler is injury related. Buck will be back against the lefty tomorrow, but we might see Gordon and Gallo sit while Kepler gets an extra day "just to be safe".
Not sure how it's documented, but, after a year of take-a-number in the trainer's room, management may also be ultra-sensitive to possible cold weather effects on soft tissue in the extremities of their players.
The schedulers purposely keep Friday vacated on the game schedule to allow for an easy move to more desirable weather on Opening Day. It's not like any other day on the schedule. They're actually setting it up so they don't screw people over. Anyone making plans should just keep Friday open as well. Two days notice is actually quite accommodating, IMO.