Cristian Pache starting in left field for Phillies in Game 2 of NLDS
With lefty Max Fried starting, Rob Thomson opted to sit Brandon Marsh for Pache, a former Braves prospect.
ATLANTA — When Cristian Pache came up through the Braves’ farm system, he was billed as the second coming of Andruw Jones.
Two organizations later, Pache has a chance to inflict pain on his former team.
Pache will be the Phillies’ left fielder Monday night for Game 2 of the best-of-five division series. With lefty Max Fried starting for the Braves, manager Rob Thomson opted for Pache, a right-handed hitter, over lefty-swinging Brandon Marsh.
The Braves traded Pache to Oakland before last season in a package for slugging first baseman Matt Olson, who led the majors with 54 homers this year. But Pache continued to struggle at the plate with the A’s, and after losing a spring-training center-field competition to Esteury Ruiz, he got traded to the Phillies on the eve of opening day for minor league reliever Billy Sullivan.
Pache, 24, batted .238/.319/.417 in 84 at-bats in an injury-interrupted season. Despite going 4-for-35 in September, he started both games of the wild-card series against Marlins lefties Jesus Luzardo and Braxton Garrett and went 1-for-5 with a walk.
Here’s the full Phillies lineup:
SS Trea Turner
3B Alec Bohm
1B Bryce Harper
2B Bryson Stott
LF Pache
CF Johan Rojas
RHP Zack Wheeler
