The Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles are playing live on Friday in spring training ahead of the MLB season and the game comes at 1:05 pm ET and streaming from MLB.com and has the Phils looking to rebound after a loss to the Yankees on Thursday in Masahiro Tanaka's first start.
The Orioles come in after their game with the Rays was cancelled for weather and now they get a taste of the Phillies before playing against the Boston Red Sox. The Orioles and Red Sox are two of the favorites in the AL East this season and Boston will be looking to win two straight World Series with a championship this year, while the O's are looking to continue their great turnaround under Buck Showalter and this spring both teams have been playing well.
The Orioles come into this season after being one of the best offensive teams in the league and that was in large part to Chris Davis and Adam Jones and the team ranked fifth in the MLB in runs scored and they were also in the top three in slugging percentage. The Orioles were 10th in the league in batting average and 19th in on base percentage and now they are going to have to battle once again with the Yankees, as they made some major moves this offseason, including signing Tanaka as well as Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran.
The Orioles have made moves as well and now they have Nelson Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez and their pitching was the biggest weakness last season and is looking to rebound. The team ranked 23rd in ERA and 24th in quality starts and you know that has to bother Buck and now they are hoping players like Jimenez and Dylan Bundy can get things right along with Chris Tillman and others in the rotation.
The Phillies come into the game after a loss against the Yankees and they next play the Houston Astros on Saturday. The team comes into the season after ranking 26th in runs and 21st in batting average and they are looking to get back to the playoffs after being a perennial contender for years.