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Lineup musings for the KC series

I might bust out a full-fledged series preview for this weekend's visit to Kansas City, but for today I'm briefly thinking about how the Phillies will structure their lineup under DH rules.

It's already been reported that Charlie Manuel will DH Chase Utley for one of the games, giving him a day off from the field, and that Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell are "candidates" for the other games. Presumably the Utley/DH lineup will include Abe Nunez at second base, and if Howard gets a DH it probably stands to reason that Wes Helms will start at first. Those lineups likely will resemble the Phils' usual alignment, with Nunez batting 9th (or 8th, ahead of Ruiz, for some dumbassed reason) when he's in, and Helms probably batting 7th.

For the Burrell DH game, though, Manuel could have some interesting options, including going with his "track team" outfield of Shane Victorino in RF, Aaron Rowand in CF, and Michael Bourn in LF. He could put Bourn, Victorino and Jimmy Rollins 1-2-3 in the batting order, and get to see what happens when the Phillies go run-crazy against an AL opponent. The ploy might be worth a try considering that Kansas City's catchers are John Buck, who has thrown out just 19 percent of opposing base runners in 2007, and Jason LaRue, who's only slightly better at 25 percent.

But there are also reasons to go with a Max Power approach, putting as many home run threats in the lineup as possible. For one thing, Kaufmann Stadium has played as a slugger's park this season, inflating home runs by 28 percent. For another, the first two projected Royals starters, Scott Elarton and Gil Meche, have been susceptible to the gopher ball. Sunday's likely pitcher, Jorge De La Rosa, does tend to keep it in the park. But he's a left-hander, and the Phillies tend to run both less often and with less success against southpaws (13 SB, 6 CS, versus 31 SB, 3 CS against righties).

The Phils often have been described as an AL-type team, maybe not surprising given that Manuel and GM Pat Gillick both spent the bulk of their careers in the junior circuit. It should be interesting to see how they set up for games played under AL rules.