Because the fans, who will manage the game via tech we swear is updated from AGT sixty years ago (2006 to be precise), the fans, our fans, the Des Moines Faithful, the Tall Corn Proud, have chosen the lineup for the game, and it is as depicted:
The fans have voted rookie third sacker Santiago Quintanilla, who happens to hail from the same city (Memphis Tennessee) as the general manager you know as JRamirez to lead off vs Clortho &Co.
Quintanilla, says the game program (remember those?—the DMO has brought them back) is batting .385 vs Louisville, but more importantly, .339, and to be specific, .353 vs right handers such as Clortho. Quintanilla, drafted in 2061, DMO Round 5, had 94 at-bats last season and was hitting .257 at Class A El Paso before being elevated to the Kernels roster, and he brutalized the BBA in July winning Player-of-the-Month for hitting .439.
Defensively, he features a 10-rated arm and 9 infield error. Pitchers know, they take ♥ when they see the ball bouncing or whizzing Quintanilla's way, as they know it is headed toward sure hands, or hand and glove: he has a 1.022 EFF mark and 2.83 RNG in 52 starts at the hot corner. If the corner is hot, La Muralla (The Wall) is hotter.
In other notes, the fans have picked Bishr to bat cleanup, even though all but 23 of his plate appearances thus far have been atop the lineup (536) or second (100)—Waffy has seen only 19 at bats from "the middle of the order" (4th, 5th, 6th) this season. Welp, the fans have spoken.
"Yeah, they've [the fans] have picked an order of battle (aka the starting lineup) that is unique, that is, uh, it is unique, the first time constructed like this, in this order," commented assistant general manager Jim "El Gringo Gordo" Winston. "Love to see how it does against the Sluggers."
If it does well versus Louisville, the club may run with it, and the lefthand variety, also fan selected, against the Nine in Yellow Springs, against which the DMO will complete the 2064 temporada regular (regular season). The Nine hold a 6-4 record against the good guys, and that will need to be severely adjusted for the Kernels to slip into a wildcard position.
For notes on today' starter (actually, follower) versus Louisville, see next team news.)