For anyone into the World Baseball Classic, here’s the Team USA lineup for today’s pre-WBC tuneup game against the White Sox:
1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Brandon Phillips, 2B
3. Ryan Braun, DH
4. Joe Mauer, C
5. Giancarlo Stanton, RF
6. Mark Teixeira, 1B
7. David Wright, 3B
8. Adam Jones, CF
9. Shane Victorino, LF
Like many managers, Joe Torre likes speedy guys atop the lineup even if they don’t do a particularly good job getting on base. Rollins and Phillips had .316 and .321 on-base percentages last season, so they aren’t exactly ideal table-setters. Mauer, who got on base at a .416 clip last year while hitting just 10 homers in 147 games, is batting cleanup, which he hasn’t done for the Twins since 2006.
Breaking down batting orders for an exhibition game before an exhibition tournament seems like probably the biggest waste of time in the world, but ... I dunno, it seemed a little interesting to me.
