Red Sox lineup vastly different than Game One
The lineup looks like this:
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Daniel Nava, DH
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
4. Mike Napoli, 1B
5. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
6. Will Middlebrooks, 3B
7. Shane Victorino, RF
8. Jackie Bradley Jr., LF
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
Daniel Nava will be the designated hitter tonight rather than Johnny Gomes. This is not too big of a surprise, as Gomes does not hit righties as well (.223 career average) as Nava (.261 career average). What is somewhat surprising is that Nava is batting in the two-hole, moving Victorino down to seventh. I take two things from the fact that Farrell is wiling to move Victorino around despite him going 2-6 with 3 RBI on Monday. One, it shows that Farrell is willing to play the splits, rather than worrying about players' feelings. Two, I would assume Farrell wouldn't make this decision if the veteran Victorino were not fine with being moved down to the bottom of the order. Don't get upset that Middlebrooks is being moved down to the sixth spot in the order, Farrell just doesn't want three righties in a row for late inning bullpen match ups. Hopefully this lineup continues to take pitches and work to get Kuroda out of the game early.
Like my opinion? Read more here. Don't like it? Let me know on Twitter @therealjtrunfio
Like my opinion? Read more here. Don't like it? Let me know on Twitter @therealjtrunfio
