Nathan Ray Seebeck
Earlier today, MLB announced Opening Day starters, with Cristopher Sánchez unsurprisingly slated to take the ball in the first game of the season for the Phillies when they welcome the Texas Rangers to Citizens Bank Park on March 26.
Rob Thomson offered more after the game, telling the media present in Clearwater — including Todd Zolecki of MLB.com — that Aaron Nola will start the second game of the season (likely against Jacob deGrom) and Jesús Luzardo will go on Sunday.
Taijuan Walker will pitch the opening game of the second series against the Washington Nationals on Monday, March 30. That means Andrew Painter will make his long-awaited MLB Debut in the second game of the Nationals series on March 31 at 6:40 ET at Citizens Bank Park.
Painter — who will turn 23 on April 10 — has pitched to a 3.97 ERA across four starts spanning 11 innings this spring. Encouragingly, he's struck out 10 batters over his last two outings, after only K'ing one batter over his first two appearances this season in the Grapefruit League.
Zack Wheeler (thoracic outlet decompression surgery) is expected to open the season on the injured list, though he's made enough progress through the spring that a return at some point in April seems to be in play. Presumably, Walker will shift to a bullpen role when Wheeler returns, although how he and Painter perform in their first few starts could change that.
