About that roster

The 2018 season starts next week. Next week! Finally! Who cares if the 4th Noreaster in two weeks is bearing down on us. I do, actually. I'm going to the Home Opener for the 39th year in a row and the weather always sucks. More on that in a post to be named later.

Anyway, there are some questions about the final 25-man roster for when the Phillies open in Atlanta next week. Here's this fan's opinion:

SP - Jake Arrieta
SP - Aaron Nola
SP - Vince Velasquez
SP - Zack Eflin
SP - Nick Pivetta

Either Eflin or Pivetta goes down when Jared Eickhoff comes back from injury in May.

RP - Tommy Hunter
RP - Pat Neshek
RP - Hector Neris
RP - Edubray Ramos
RP - Luis Garcia
RP - Adam Morgan
RP - Victor Arano
RP - Hoby Milner

1B - Carlos Santana
2B - Cesar Hernandez
SS - JP Crawford
3B - Maikel Franco
IF - Pedro Florimon

I'm not sure what else they hope to see from Franco. They dumped Tommy Joseph because he was Tommy Joseph. I guess the powers that be think Franco still has untapped potential. I think we've seen what he is. I'd much prefer to see Scott Kingery get lots and lots of playing time in the infield. I think Florimon gets the last roster spot because of his versatility.

OF - Rhys Hoskins
OF - Odubel Hererra
OF - Nick Williams
OF - Aaron Altherr
OF - Roman Quinn

C - Jorge Alfaro
C - Andrew Knapp

Knapp gets the roster spot over Cameron Rupp because he's a bit more versatile and is a switch-hitter.

Arrieta makes this team so much better than last year. With him and Nola, the Phils have a legitimate 1-2 punch in starting pitching. Compare that to some of the awful starts this team got last year. Arrieta is a difference maker. To me, it makes sense to add Kingery and demote Franco. Kingery's offense could be the difference that gets this team to a wild-card playoff berth. And that's a move worth making.