The Oakland Athletics will kick off the 2012 MLB regular season in Japan against the Seattle Mariners. After a long, cold offseason, the A's hope to shock the world and make a run despite a roster stacked with young and unproven players. How will Yoenis Cespedes perform in America? Will Manny Ramirez contribute at all? Does a guy like Jemile Weeks emerge as an elite leadoff option? These questions and more will be answered in the coming months.
Here are the starting lineups for both clubs.
A's:
Jemile Weeks 2B
Cliff Pennington SS
Coco Crisp LF
Seth Smith DH
Kurt Suzuki C
Josh Reddick RF
Yoenis Cespedes CF
Brandon Allen 1B
Eric Sogard 3B
Brandon McCarthy will start the game for Oakland.
Mariners:
Chone Figgins 3B
Dustin Ackley 2B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Justin Smoak 1B
Jesus Montero DH
Mike Carp LF
Miguel Olivo C
Michael Saunders CF
Brendan Ryan SS
Felix Hernandez will start the game for Seattle.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 a.m. ET, which is 3 a.m. in the Bay Area. Yay for early morning baseball!
For more on the A's, head on over to Athletics Nation. Mariners fans should check out Lookout Landing.