March 31 -- WHAT'S THE DL?

Greetings from Citizens Bank Park. Good to be back, although it's a little chillier here than in Clearwater!

As you probably read in today's paper, RHP Freddy Garcia (right biceps tendinitis) and RHP Jon Lieber (strained oblique) will open the season on the DL. How long Garcia will be there is still a mystery, although I'm hoping to have more information on that later. Also, no word yet on whether C/INF Chris Coste (strained right hamstring) will go on the DL. My bet is he won't. Coste (right) is scheduled to fly here today, and even though he had only 18 major-league at-bats in spring training, I'm hearing that he'll be on the opening-day roster as the final bench player. Then, whenever Garcia is ready to return, the Phillies could always send Coste to Triple-A to get more regular playing time.

But, of course, nothing has been made official yet. The Phillies have until 3 p.m. tomorrow to set their roster.

Red Sox have their opening-day lineup starting today against RHP Adam Eaton. That includes DH David Ortiz and LF Manny Ramirez in their familiar 3-4 spots. For anyone who doubts the existence of lineup protetction, these two should serve as the proof. Phillies lineup against RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K) looks like this: SS Jimmy Rollins, CF Aaron Rowand, 2B Chase Utley, 1B Ryan Howard, LF Pat Burrell, DH Wes Helms, RF Ron Calloway, 3B Abraham Nunez, C Rod Barajas.

More later, including a Dice-K update.