Opening Day 2026 is finally upon us, and the Boston Red Sox will begin the 162-game marathon of a season in the home of the king of all Opening Day celebrations: Cincinnati. The Red Sox will face off with a gutsy Cincinnati Reds team fresh off an early playoff elimination in 2025, led by Terry Francona.
Boston's Opening Day starting lineup looks largely as expected (first posted by Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald), with rising star Roman Anthony in the leadoff spot, and Trevor Story and Jarren Duran to follow. Of course, Garrett Crochet has the start. But one omission from the lineup is sure to raise questions among fans.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa has received the nod at second base to start the 2026 campaign, over former top prospect Marcelo Mayer. Kiner-Falefa will bat seventh, behind Wilyer Abreu and in front of Carlos Narváez.
Mayer didn't have a guaranteed spot on the Opening Day roster when spring training began, but he earned the nod with a solid offensive performance and his usual smooth, athletic defense in the middle infield. But manager Alex Cora is clearly still hesitant to start the 23-year-old against lefty pitchers, and his squad will face Reds southpaw Andrew Abbott this afternoon.
Red Sox announce Opening Day lineup that features Isiah Kiner-Falefa as starting second baseman over Marcelo Mayer
Game No. 1 pic.twitter.com/A8vKqIO5E8
— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 26, 2026
Cora announced on March 23 that he planned to platoon Kiner-Falefa and Mayer in matchup-based scenarios — Kiner-Falefa would be his go-to-guy against lefties, which is a curious choice, to say the least. While Mayer has just 44 games of big league experience and minimal success against lefties in that time (.154/.185/.231 slash line over 27 plate appearances), Kiner-Falefa has reverse splits and batted .227/.250/.286 against left-handers in 2025.
Mayer is a former top prospect, most likely a Red Sox infielder of the future, and at this stage in Kiner-Falefa's career, the superior defender between the two players. Andruw Monasterio would be an even better choice, given his .837 OPS against lefties last season. But the lineup is set.
The top of the Red Sox's order looks dangerous as ever. Anthony flashed his keen eye and power potential during the World Baseball Classic, as did Duran, who seems to have returned to his 2024, MVP-vote-recipient form. Story had an excellent spring training with a 1.089 OPS over 15 games, fresh off last season as Boston's home run leader.
The Sox's two newest infielders, Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin, will bat back-to-back. Contreras (1.049 OPS in 11 Grapefruit League games) is expected to bring some pop and reliable defense at first base to Boston's lineup. Durbin (.354/.446/.500 slash line in 18 spring training games) doesn't strike out and he plays clean defense at the opposite corner.
Abreu, batting sixth, will presumably be the main home run hitter in this lineup as he seeks to build on his WBC dominance. Narváez played through a knee injury during much of last season and his bat disappeared in the second half. If he can stay consistent at the plate for an entire season, it'll be a huge boon to Boston's offense. The same goes for Ceddanne Rafaela, who already has a Gold Glove in his trophy case — his bat just needs to match up.
Masataka Yoshida will sit the first game of the season, the obvious first casualty of the Red Sox's five-man outfield jam. It will be interesting to see if and when he becomes a factor in games, especially since it'll be hard to justify breaking up the Sox's incredible defensive outfield.
Abbott, Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez will be tough competition in the Sox's opening series. Both teams hope to improve upon their postseason outcomes in 2025 and both are expected to finish around the middle of competitive divisions. Starting today, they'll each have 162 games to try and reach their goals.