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Spring Game Thread #14: Athletics at Rockies

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The A's are back in action this afternoon after a win against the Giants last night. Since this is a day game after a night game, the A's are going with a very different lineup from last night, with Mark Canha as the lone holdover between the two starting lineups.Also, today we all get the great pleasure of watching Billy Butler play defense. The A's are probably just seeing if he can look remotely comfortable in the field, but odds are this won't be a common occurrence.

Other player to watch in today's lineup is prospect Matt Chapman. The A's 2014 1st round pick will most likely start the year with AA-Midland, but he's an exciting powerful bat to watch. This may be one of the last times A's fans get to see how Chapman deals with major league pitching, as many other players have started to get reassigned to minor league camp this week. Since Chapman won't make the team out of spring, odds are he'll get reassigned fairly soon, so get him his looks while they can!

Here's the A's full lineup:

1. Coco Crisp CF

2. Mark Canha DH

3. Jed Lowrie 2B

4. Billy Butler 1B

5. Josh Phegley C

6. Jake Smolinski LF

7. Sam Fuld RF

8. Matt Chapman 3B

9. Eric Sogard SS

Pitcher: Rich Hill

For the Rockies:

The Rockies are going with a mix of some veteran starters and intriguing prospects. The name that stands out to me the most here is shortstop Trevor Story. The Rockies clearly felt comfortable enough in him that they traded their former franchise cornerstone Troy Tulowitzki last summer. Story will probably start the year in AAA, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him making an impact at the big league level this year.

Rich Hill will have his hands full with the Rockies two best hitters though, as Carlos Gonzalez and Nolan Arenado are both starting today. Hill has had a rather shaky start to his spring, and if he can get some all-stars out today that should surely help his confidence.

1. Gerardo Parra CF

2. Trevor Story SS

3. Carlos Gonzalez RF

4. Nolan Arenado 3B

5. Mark Reynolds 1B

6. Ryan Raburn DH

7. Nick Hundley C

8. D.J. Lemahieu 2B

9. Brandon Barnes LF

Pitcher: Jorge de la Rosa

First pitch is at 1:05. Today's game is not televised, but you can listen in to the MLB.com webcast for free. Happy commenting!