As Opening Day Nears

As Opening Day nears, it seems as though Jerry Manuel will have Luis Castillo batting eighth, the arguments otherwise (which can be found here) notwithstanding. Jose Reyes will bat in his customary leadoff spot, and Daniel Murphy will bat second. The third slot in the batting order's duty will be split by David Wright and Carlos Beltran, while the other will bat fifth. Carlos Delgado will bat cleanup. Ryan Church and the catching tandem of Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro will round out the top eight spots in the order; the pitcher will bat ninth.

It is unclear as to whether Luis Castillo would bat second in games that Daniel Murphy does not play. Should he not, the two-hole would probably be manned by Fernando Tatis.

Here is the Starting Lineup with last year's statistics: (BA/OBP/SLG/HR/RBI)
1. SS Jose Reyes (.297/.358/.475/16/68)
2. LF Daniel Murphy (.313/.397/.473/2/17) in 131 at-bats/
LF Fernando Tatis (.297/.369/.484/11/47) in 273 at-bats
3. 3B David Wright (.302/.390/.534/33/124)
4. 1B Carlos Delgado (.271/.353/.518/38/115)
5. CF Carlos Beltran (.284/.376/.500/27/112)
6. RF Ryan Church (.276/.346/.439/12/49) in 319 at-bats
7. C Brian Schneider (.257/.339/.367/9/38) in 335 at-bats/
C Ramon Castro (.245/.312/.441/7/24) in 143 at-bats
8. 2B Luis Castillo (.245/.355/.305/3/28) in 199 at-bats

It's a solid lineup, which, coupled with the quality rotation and great bullpen should comprise the team to beat in the National League East.