The Philadelphia Phillies open up the Grapefruit League schedule this week, and that should serve as a nice reminder that baseball is not that far away. Todd Zolecki has posted the pitching schedule for the first week's worth of games on his MLB.com blog. Perhaps most notable is the news that Cole Hamels will take the first official start of the spring on Saturday against the Houston Astros, with Roy Halladay tabbed for the Sunday start against the Detroit Tigers.
Much has been made recently about who should get the Opening Day assignment for the Phillies. Not that we want to judge too much on the first spring training games of the year, but it would seem to suggest that Hamels will be the Opening Day starter for the Phillies for the first time in his career.
Hamels as the Opening Day starter is a move I have long endorsed based off of last season and Hamels' place in the franchise's history. We'll see if that turns out to be the case in due time.
Check out the full pitching schedule reported by Zolecki.
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