Tonight’s Boston Red Sox lineup against the Baltimore Orioles is missing two hitters that normally bat at the top of the order.
The Boston Red Sox will shake up the top of their batting order for the second game of their weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles.
Dustin Pedroia is out of the lineup tonight after getting spiked in the back of the leg on a Manny Machado slide during Friday’s game. The veteran second baseman downplayed the incident that many felt was a dirty play. Even if Machado wasn’t intending to injury Pedroia, he was clearly trying to wipe him out at second base to break up the double play – a once common strategy that is no longer legal in Major League Baseball.
Pedroia told reporters Saturday afternoon that he has some soreness in his ankle and knee, but doesn’t expect to require a trip to the disabled list. For now, he’s day-to-day, but even one missed game means Machado’s reckless slide proves costly to the Red Sox.
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Now the question on everyone’s mind is whether or not the Red Sox retaliate when Machado steps to the plate. With Steven Wright on the mound, don’t count on it. What’s he going to do, try to bean him with an 86 MPH fastball? Machado might catch it bare-handed and whip it right back at him. Besides, as often as Wright has served up meatballs over the plate this season, it would be unwise to intentionally put a runner on base ahead of the power threats in this Baltimore lineup. There’s a solid chance that Wright hits someone by accident given how unpredictable the location of his knuckleball has been, although that wouldn’t exactly send a message.
If the Red Sox really wanted to get back at Machado, they’d wait until later in the game and send in a flame-thrower like Joe Kelly. Of course, that wouldn’t be wise unless Boston had a comfortable lead by that point, which is hardly a given with how this offense has scuffled lately.
Boston can ill afford to give the O’s an easy path to getting on base after getting shutout in Baltimore last night, especially with a depleted lineup. In addition to Pedroia being out, Andrew Benintendi will get a night off for the first time this season.
.@Knucklepuck23 gets the ball as the #RedSox try to even the series with the Orioles. https://t.co/aCtZ8kjzFl pic.twitter.com/Soo9dav4r7
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 22, 2017
Sitting Benintendi allows the Red Sox to get lefty-masher Chris Young in the lineup against southpaw Jayson Aquino. Young will bat sixth, while Xander Bogaerts moves up to the lead-off spot with Pedroia out.
Bogaerts received his first career start in the lead-off role last Tuesday in Toronto, going 2-for-5 with a run scored in Boston’s 8-7 victory. The star shortstop enters the day batting .333, the highest average on the team among hitters with at least 20 at-bats this season.
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A surprising change to the lineup is Jackie Bradley moving up to fill Benintendi’s spot in the No. 2 hole. JBJ returned from a brief stint on the disabled list last night, picking up a base hit in four trips to the plate.
Bradley rarely hits this high in the order, and when he has it typically hasn’t gone well. Over the previous three seasons with the Red Sox, Bradley is 1-for-13 (.076) with six strikeouts batting second and 1-for-24 (.041) when hitting in any of the top four spots in the lineup.
If those brutal numbers weren’t enough of a deterrent, we can also question the move to bat the left-handed Bradley this high in the order against a lefty starter. While Bradley is 1-for-2 against left-handed pitching this season, he hit a mere .244 against them last season.
Batting Bradley second isn’t ideal, but the Red Sox aren’t overflowing with appealing options for that spot with Pedroia and Benintendi both out. Maybe put Young in the second spot to ensure he gets as many plate appearances as possible while a lefty is still in the game? That could have worked, although it has the potential to backfire late in the game after the starter exits.
Next: Power drought could be a problem
Boston is looking for their bats to wake up after scoring a total of only four runs over the last three games. Can this new-look lineup get it done against Baltimore’s rookie starter? We’ll find out tonight, starting with the first pitch at 7:05 from Camden Yards.