Dont pen in the Red Sox opening day DH



For the last 10 years David Ortiz has been a staple in the Red Sox offense. On April 1st he may not step into the batters box and be the DH for the team due to injury. Ortiz has not yet played in a game all spring training and is still not able to participate in running drills in consecutive days. To learn more about what Farell said about Ortiz's recent setback click here. So if Ortiz is not ready to play on opening day then what are manager John Farrell's options?
The most likely options to fill the DH role while Ortiz is out could include; Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Ryan Sweeney, Mitch Maier, Lyle Overbay, Mike Carp, Mauro Gomez, Ryan Lavarnway, Mike Napoli, and Jonny Gomes. While Napoli and Gomes are expected to be starting in different positions they could DH when needing a break from playing the field.
When April 1st rolls around and the team is playing in Yankee Stadium they will be facing CC Sabathia, the Yankees ace. Sabathia is a lefty so that means the best matchup would be a right handed hitter for the Sox leaving Gomez, Nava, Saltalamacchia, Gomes and Lavarnway fighting for the DH spot. Out of these candidates Gomez has the least at bats against CC but also has the highest average. Gomes has the faced CC the most but has a .208 average. Saltalamacchia will most likely be the starting catcher so that eliminates him from the DH role. Nava is 2-7 against CC and Lavarnway is hitless in 3 at bats. Who should be the DH on opening day, currently Farrell will not announce the starter but that does not mean that we can make our own predictions. I predict that Nava will be the DH on opening day, but feel free to leave your predictions below in the comments or on twitter @Ryanthahawaiian