About this Afternoon & The Roster

The Orioles closed out their Grapefruit League portion of the spring as they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-5 on Sunday in Sarasota.

Wei-Yin Chen had a rough afternoon as he gave up seven runs – only three earned. He did give up three homers – two to Desmond Jennings, who had three on the day; Evan Longoria also homered off of him.

A enormous J.J. Hardy error in the fourth inning opened up the flood gates for the Rays; however, Chen’s outing was not as terrible as it looked.

Despite Hardy’s miscue in the field, did homer twice – once in the first inning and again in the sixth. Nick Markakis and Nick Johnson also hit homers, as well. Johnson, who should make the squad as a bench player, or part-time designated hitter drove in four runs.

With that all being said, it looks like the Opening Day roster is taking shape despite Buck Showalter not finalizing anything. Heck, he has not even named a starter for April 6th although most in the media are speculating Jake Arrieta will be tabbed.

Here is what I think the roster will be:

C: Matt Wieters

IF: Chris Davis, Robert Andino, J.J. Hardy, Mark Reynolds

OF: Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Nolan Reimold

DH: Wilson Betimit/Nick Johnson

Bench: Endy Chavez, Ronny Paulino

SP: Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen, Tommy Hunter, Brian Matusz,

BP: Jim Johnson, Kevin Gregg, Luis Ayala, Matt Lindstrom, Pedro Strop

The members of the bullpen who are on the bubble are Darren O’Day, Pat Neshek, Zach Phillips, Tsuyoshi Wada and Troy Patton. I think Phillips makes the team as a long reliever who is a southpaw, while Patton starts at Triple-A.

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