Boston Red Sox 2030 Opening Day Lineup
So we have the Boston Red Sox 26-man roster for Opening Day in the 2030 MLB season. However, what is that lineup going to look like exactly? Who is going to be starting at what position and where are they going to be batting in the lineup?
Let’s take a look at that and give a quick breakdown of each.
Leadoff – Centerfielder Gilberto Jimenez
Jimenez is going to be the perfect man for this role. He’ll get on base with infield singles and bloop hits. Throwing in the occasional extra bases. That doesn’t matter though because he’s probably just going to steal second base anyways. Tons of steals and insane amounts of runs as the middle of the order drives him in.
Two-Hole – Second Baseman Nick Yorke
Yorke is hitting in the second spot while playing second base. He has all the on-base talent in the world. Walks a lot, doesn’t strikeout, and is going to make a lot of good contact. A decent amount of power and .300-plus average. He’ll throw in some steals, add some home runs, and the run production will be great with lots of runs and a good amount of RBI.
Three-Hole – First Baseman Triston Casas
In little league they always say the person batting third is the best hitter in the lineup. It’s the perfect spot as he’ll always hit in the first inning and likely has a crazy amount of RBI opportunities (I never hit third, bottom of the order was more my speed – I was just there to get walks and play elite defense). In the Majors I feel like this is still the case, but sometimes you see the top guy hitting one-or-two as those spots have added a lot of power.
For the Red Sox though, Casas will be their best hitter, and hitting third. He’s going to hit around .300 with a ton of walks and do so with 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBI on a yearly basis.
Cleanup – Third Baseman Blaze Jordan
Jordan will be holding on to that cleanup spot thanks to his 40-plus home run potential. He might not hit for the same average as Casas but he’s going to drive in some insane numbers when it comes to runs thanks to that power and the people hitting in front of him.
The bigger point here is that Jordan will be playing third base. And the reason for that is while he’s not perfect defensively, Devers has his obvious flaws too. There’s that potential for both of them but Devers at that point in his career might be ready to just go full-time DH and focus on MASHING.
Batting Fifth – Designated Hitter Rafael Devers
And mash he will. Devers will still be solid on defense. He’ll have his errors but he’s shown that he can look phenomenal in the field for long stretches. So the Red Sox probably won’t have an issue putting Devers in at third (or even first) on occasion.
Let the lefty hit homers though. Put him at DH. Give him the Big Papi treatment. No need to focus on anything but hitting and put up HOF numbers – which he will.
Six-Hole – Shortstop Marcelo Mayer
Marcelo Mayer will be batting sixth. This is the perfect example of how potentially deadly this lineup could be. Mayer could be someone whose hitting around .300 with 25 home runs and 15 steals every year. And I have him hitting sixth on this team. That just seems wild but it fits nicely. He’ll get plenty of RBI opportunities here and will probably hurt a lot of pitchers feelings when they realize there’s no rest with this line. All while playing elite defense at shortstop.
Batting Seventh – Catcher Ronaldo Hernandez
This one was a toss-up because I couldn’t decide who to start between Hernandez and Cottam. The truth is I don’t think it really matters because they’ll both get a lot of playing time. I’m going with Hernandez here because he’s better defensively at the moment and that gives him the edge.
Likely in this scenario they would both have a designated pitcher or two, and split the rest of the days based on whoever is hotter at the plate. So I’ll say Hernandez pairs with Mata and Groome, Cottam pairs with Bello and Murphy, and they split on Gonzalez.
Hernandez is a dangerous hitter who will add some pop to the bottom of the order while keeping the base paths clean with his elite arm.
Batting Eighth – Right Fielder Alex Verdugo
I have Verdugo in right field because he has a better arm than Duran and that’s important for right field in Fenway Park. He’s still going to be great defensively and will bring a lot to the table on offense.
Verdugo’s likely never going to be a major power guy but he can hit a lot of doubles and manage double-digit homers. He’s going to flirt with .300 for his whole career too, so having that at the bottom of the lineup is fun.
“Second-Leadoff” – Left Fielder Jarren Duran
Jarren Duran is batting ninth in this scenario and playing left field. I’ll explain both. Left field is simply because he’s not as good defensively as Verdugo. The Green Monster can be a challenge but Duran is an extremely hard worker. So he’ll master it. And left field will be good for him as it’s shallow and he doesn’t have the arm Verdugo has.
Meanwhile, batting ninth isn’t a bad thing. That’s why I went with the whole “second-leadoff” thing that they used to say about Jackie Bradley Jr. when he would go on his hot streaks. Duran can hit for a good average and still manage 20 homers and a ton of steals. Put him at the bottom of the order so he can get on base for the top and the middle of the order to drive in. That way Casas might be coming to bat with Duran, Jimenez, and Yorke on base. Sounds like a whole lot of runs.
Pitching – Bryan Mata
The Red Sox have a lot of potential aces. Bryan Mata is the star of that group in my opinion though. He’ll be considered the best pitcher in baseball at some point. So even if Boston has the best staff in baseball, it will be Mata taking the mound on Opening Day every single year. The right-hander has the potential to be that good – seriously.