The United States is ready to remain alive in the World Baseball Classic as they get ready to once again face Puerto Rico. They will face Nelson Figueroa, who had a decent start in his first WBC appearance. Also, Team USA will likely be without their big bat. Lets look at the lineup of for Friday's game against Puerto Rico.
Similar to Thursday night's lineup against the Dominican Republic, there will be no David Wright and he's the heart and muscle of this team. Believe it or not, Wright is the only American with a home run for the team in the WBC through their first five games. Wright, or Captain America as they're calling him, was suffering from back issues before the game and could not participate as he stated, out of respect to the New York Mets.
Here's the lineup with stats through the first games of the 2013 WBC for this Team USA order that will feature some changes and movement.
1. Jimmy Rollins SS: AVG .304 0 RBI 3 R 1 SB
2. Brandon Phillips 2B: AVG .227 1 RBI 4 R
3. Ryan Braun LF: AVG .286 0 RBI 4 R 1 SB
4. Joe Mauer C: AVG .444 2 RBI 3 R 4 BB
5. Giancarlo Stanton RF: AVG .231 0 RBI 4 BB
6. Ben Zobrist 3B: AVG .333 0 RBI 1 R
7. Eric Hosmer 1B: AVG .190 5 RBI 1 R 1 SB
8. Adam Jones CF: AVG .222 4 RBI 2 R 2 SB
9. Shane Victorino DH: AVG .143 1 RBI
As we can see, Team USA manager Joe Torre has loaded up speed at the bottom of the lineup. If Jones and Victorino get on base, once the lineup flips over, Rollins could become a power hitter and drive in runners.
The differences from yesterday's line include the addition of Zobrist to the lineup and playing third. On Thursday, Willie Bloomquist got the start for Wright. Mauer is catching as J.P. Arencibia is out of the lineup and Victorino gets the start at DH.
The Americans will be facing Figueroa, who pitched decently in his first start in the WBC. He went four innings and gave up two runs on five hits with only one strikeout his game against Venezuela in their round robin matchup.
Come back to Sports World Report later on as we will bring you a live stream of this game.