Brandon Phillips hitting 7th, Joey Votto 2nd for Reds

MONTREAL — Reds manager Bryan Price put Joey Votto in the second spot of the lineup and Brandon Phillips in the seven hole for the Reds' final two exhibition games on Friday and Saturday in Montreal, and he hinted strongly that the two will stay in those spots when the season begins on Monday.

Price has dodged questions about his lineup construction all spring, but was a little more forthcoming with the season just days away, saying there's "a chance" the Opening Day lineup will have the same eight as Friday's.

The starting eight position players for Friday, and presumably Monday, is Billy Hamilton in center field, Votto at first, Todd Frazier batting and playing third, Devin Mesoraco catching and batting cleanup, Marlon Byrd in left field batting fifth, Jay Bruce in right batting sixth, Phillips at second batting seventh and Zack Cozart eighth, playing shortstop.

Minor leaguer Marquez Smith was the designated hitter on Friday and Cozart will bat ninth with Brayan Pena as the DH on Saturday. There will be no DH when the Reds start the season at home against the Pirates on Monday.

"We may enter the season with something similar to what you're seeing here in Montreal," Price said. "If I need to make adjustments during the year, I'll certainly do that."

However, he had plenty to say about Phillips batting seventh and Votto second — so much so that they don't seem to be a passing fancy.

"There's a lot of things that go into it and try to make sure we're putting ourselves in the best situation to be productive throughout the lineup, one of the reasons Brandon is hitting seventh is he's going to have some guys in front of him, which, I think, is a better environment for him than hitting leadoff or maybe hitting second," Price said. "Joey's been a guy who is an extra-base guy and high-on-base guy, it's wonderful to have him and Billy sitting ahead of Todd and Devin and Marlon and Jay. There could be some subtle tweaks when we face a right-handed pitcher, but right now the next three starters are lefties, so there's a chance this could be an Opening Day lineup here against a left-handed starter."

The Blue Jays started Mark Buehrle on Friday and are scheduled to start lefty Daniel Norris on Saturday before the Reds face Pirates' left-hander Francisco Liriano on Opening Day.

The next two games feature right-handers, Gerritt Cole and A.J. Burnett on the mound for the Pirates. The Reds could flip-flop Byrd and Bruce against right-handers.

Votto started 23 games in the two-hole last season and put up some of his best numbers there in his injury-shortened season. He hit .265/.430/.446 with three of his six home runs in the second hole. Many theories speculate that the most productive spot for the best hitter on a team is second, and it's something the Angels have done with Mike Trout, the Twins with Joe Mauer and the Red Sox with Dustin Pedroia. Since his debut on Sept. 4, 2007, Votto has the highest on-base percentage (.417) and second-best batting average (.310) in baseball.

Phillips batted no lower than sixth last season and has only started one game at the No. 7 spot since 2006, when he mostly hit there during his first season in Cincinnati. His last start in the seventh spot came in 2010.

"I just think we need that type of bat in that spot, it gives us an opportunity to give us credibility throughout the lineup and an understanding that it's still an extremely important spot in our lineup if we're going to have some authority one-through-eight," Price said. "I think there's going to be plenty of opportunities for Brandon to drive in runs in that exact spot. It doesn't mean he'll be there all year, it means he has a chance to start the season with what I believe will be plenty of opportunities to drive in runs and be a productive performer for us."

Price said he's talked to all the players individually about what to expect, so Phillips' sudden drop to seventh shouldn't be taking him by surprise.

"I've talked with all of our hitters, at different points in time, there's an understanding and appreciation that spots in the lineup are all valuable and all important, and the one thing I think we need, first of all, is someone who will embrace that spot," Price said. "I won't say it's a coveted spot, I think coveted for a lot of guys is three-four, or three-four-five, that being said, when you look at the guys hitting ahead of you, Mesoraco's not just a guy who is a nice offensive player, he's a high on-base guy, Marlon has a great history as a great offensive performer that you can anticipate being on base and Jay Bruce, we know is going to have a much better year than he did in 2014. That's a nice trio of hitters leading up to hitting seventh."