DETROIT – Spring training was filled with injury and uncertainty for the Detroit Tigers, but when Brad Ausmus released his Opening Day lineup card on Monday, all of his top weapons were ready to go.
The Tigers' skipper released the starting nine on Twitter:
Rajai Davis, CF
Ian Kinsler, 2B
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Victor Martinez, DH
J.D. Martinez, RF
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Nick Castellanos, 3B
Alex Avila, C
Jose Iglesias, SS
David Price is on the mound to start for Detroit.
First Pitch: 1:08 p.m. on FSD
The most notable name in the Opening Day lineup is Davis, who was clearly outplayed by newcomer Anthony Gose during spring training. Davis hit .267 with four doubles and four stolen bases over 21 spring games, while Gose hit .299 with four doubles, three triples and six stolen bases.
Twins starter Phil Hughes is much tougher against left-handed hitters, holding them to a .249 average and virtually no power. As a result, Ausmus went with the right-handed Davis.
Ausmus feels comfortable with Davis atop the lineup because of his success in 2014. Davis hit .290 in 231 at-bats in the leadoff spot, including 13 doubles, four home runs and 18 stolen bases. In his second year as an MLB manager, Ausmus knows he needs the top to hitters to set the table for Cabrera and Martinez.
Speaking of Detroit's powerful 3-4 duo, Tigers fans can breathe a mini sigh of relief as their presence in the Opening Day lineup once appeared extremely unlikely. Cabrera is coming off a spring training in which he hit .345 with three homers in 11 games, while V-Mart hopes to build off of last season's near MVP campaign.
The Tigers will square off against Hughes, who won 16 games and posted a 3.52 ERA last season. Hughes started two games against Detroit early in the 2014 season, pitching seven innings in both outings and surrendering a total of 12 hits and only one run. Hughes won both games.
Monday's game will be Hughes' 15th career appearance against Detroit.
For Price, Monday will be just his 12th start for the Tigers after coming over in a trade last July. He dominated the Twins last season, winning three of four games and holding the Twins to a .198 batting average. In his final start of the season, he shut out the Twins for 7.1 innings and helped the Tigers clinch the AL Central crown.
Paul Molitor's first lineup as a MLB manager looks like this:
Danny Santana, SS
Brian Dozier, 2B
Joe Mauer, 1B
Torii Hunter, RF
Kennys Vargas, DH
Trevor Plouffe, 3B
Oswaldo Arcia, LF
Kurt Suzuki, C
Jordan Schafer, CF
Detroit will look to turn the tide against a Minnesota team that surprisingly won the series season last year. The Twins took 10 of 19 meetings with the division champs, the only AL Central team to win the series. The Tigers went a combined 34-23 against the rest of the Central.
After Monday, the Tigers will have a day off Tuesday and return behind Anibal Sanchez on Wednesday. The Twins will counter with Ricky Nolasco.
The series concludes Thursday, with Shane Greene making his Tigers debut against Kyle Gibson.