Opening Day lineup announced
April 1, 1997
WASHINGTON D.C. — Bobwhites skipper Rip Torn this morning announced his lineup for Opening Day, with a new look in the club's batting order.
"We're excited to get the season underway," said Torn. "This is what the lineup will look like to start the year and in an ideal world it'll work out great all year, but in reality we know we may have to tinker with it as we go along."
Leading off for Washington on Opening Day will be 29-year-old centerfielder Rocky Framaggio. The right-handed hitter hit .290 with a .401 on-base percentage last year, hitting 31 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs, 71 RBI and scored 98 times while stealing 15 bases.
"Rocky has more power than your stereotypical leadoff guy but he's a good hitter all around and is one of our better base runners," said Torn. "We think he can do his job at the top of the order by getting on base and scoring a lot of runs."
Following Framaggio will be left-handed hitting leftfielder Hank Carl. The 34-year-old is coming off a career year in which he hit .325 with 24 doubles, six home runs, 28 home runs, 94 RBI and 93 runs scored. A career .292 hitter, Carl's previous career high in home runs was 20 (1994), and last season was the first in which he was an everyday player who topped the .300 mark.
"Hank is a good hitter, he has power and can drive the ball to advance baserunners," said Torn. "I also like having a lefty hitter up there in that second spot with the idea that he can help with productive outs by advancing runners."
The key to the lineup will be rightfielder Ramon Echague. The 30-year-old slugger hit .280 with 44 home runs, 136 RBI and 111 runs scored last year. He has hit 30 or more home runs five times, including the last four seasons. He has hit 44 home runs twice in the last three seasons. Batting right behind him will be shortstop Waichirou Moronobu, entering his third big league season and his first as the full-time cleanup hitter. "Thumper" hit .303 with 28 home runs and 96 RBI while scoring 129 times and stealing nine bases.
"Thumper has the kind of tools to hit at the top of the order orin the middle of the lineup," said Torn. "His power, however, is just too good to put at the leadoff position so he ends up batting fourth."
Batting fifth on Opening Day will be left-handed hitter and Bobwhites firstbaseman Neil McKinney. Entering his second year as the starter, the 23-year-old hopes to have a big season. He hit .287 with 26 home runs and 89 RBI with 63 runs scored over 404 at bats in 1996.
"Neil is a real dirt dog who plays hard," said Torn. "He's put in the work and has earned the opportunity to hit behind Echague and Thumper to help drive them in, keep the line moving and set the table for the next guys."
Those next guys are thirdbaseman George Goutones, catcher Larry Jenkins and secondbaseman Francisco Juarez. Goutones, 26, has some pop in his bat, as he showed last year when he hit .276 with 25 homers, 84 RBI and 74 runs in 152 games. Jenkins, a switch-hitter, has had some fine seasons in his 13-year career but arguably none were as good as his 1996 season, his second with the Bobwhites. A career .274 hitter, Jenkins hit .288 with 30 home runs, 104 RBI and 93 runs scored in 146 games. It is the second straight season he has hit 30-plus homers and the first time to drive in 100 runs. Rounding out the lineup is Juarez, a 33-year-old right-handed hitter. He hit .246 with nine home runs and 40 RBI in 285 at bats as a part-time player last season. He has seen his playing time an, subsequently, his numbers drop in each of the last few seasons.
