Potential Opening Day Lineup

Baseball is back! Well, not quite, but pitchers and catchers reported to spring training so we are getting closer. It's in that spirit that I'm going to project the Oriole's everyday line-up for 2015.

 Let's start with the locks:                

Adam Jones CF
J.J. Hardy SS
Manny Machado 3B
Matt Wieters C
Chris Davis 1B (after one-game suspension)

That means the Orioles need to 4 spots in the lineup:
*Leaders are highlighted
LF:Alejandro De Aza, Nolan Reimold, David Lough
RF:Steve Pearce, David Lough
2B: Jonathan Schoop,  Ryan Flaherty, Everth Cabrera
DH: Delmon Young, Steve Pearce

With the positions now projected, let's look at the "likely" lineup:

1)Alejandro De Aza LF
2)Manny Machado 3B
3)Adam Jones CF
4)Chris Davis 1B
5)Matt Wieters C
6)JJ Hardy SS
7)Steve Pearce RF
8)Delmon Young DH
9)Jonathan Schoop 2B

Now this line-up has the potential to be scary, but it is banking highly on players returning from injury. Manny Machado was a potential 40 doubles hitter prior to both of his knee injuries. Chris Davis led the league in home runs prior to a horrendous year last year. Matt Wieters was off to the best start of his career prior to Tommy John surgery. Bottomline, the Oriole's offense will likely live or die by the players returning from injury.

Whatever the lineup is come opening day, the Yard is sure to be packed with excited O's fans looking forward to another competitive year in the AL East.