Rays vs. Orioles, Game 2: Lineups, Pitchers, and Gametime

Opening Day with a little bit of a letdown, but the Rays and Orioles go at it once again on Wednesday as the Rays look to get their first game in the win column against the Orioles team that was a thorn in their side last season.

Here's Ian's write-up on Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen (certainly not to be confused with Bruce).

While his fastball may only sit in the low 90s, and he may not have commanded a $50 million posting fee, don't be misled. The fastball is a major league pitch, and Wei-Yin Chen is a major league pitcher. His four-seamer is a little bit like that of his countryman Koji Uehara or the Rays' own Joel Peralta in that while the velocity is unimpressive, it has a ton of rise (fourth most in the league, among qualified starters according to FanGraphs) which the lefty Chen uses to challenge hitters in a way usually reserved for power pitchers.

Chen fills out his arsenal much like Hammel did with a more sparely used two-seamer, a curve and a very effective slider, as well as a changeup which he only mixes in against opposite handed hitting. Unlike Hammel, Chen is a flyball pitcher, in addition to which he probably has some infield popup inducing skill.

Lineups

Rays: Jennings CF, Rodriguez LF, Zobrist RF, Longoria 3B, Duncan DH, Escobar SS, Roberts 2B, Lobaton C, Johnson 1B

Orioles: McLouth LF, Machado 3B, Markakis RF, Jones CF, Davis 1B, Wieters C, Hardy SS, Reimold DH, Roberts 2B

Pitchers

Jeremy Hellickson (10-11, 3.10 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 4.44 SIERA) vs. Wei-Yin Chen (12-11, 4.42 FIP, 4.14 SIERA)