Jackie Bradley Jr's Opening Day roster hopes take a hit

The Red Sox have a roster spot available for an outfielder coming out of Spring Training. Unfortunately for young phenom Jackie Bradley Jr., the available spot is in left field. Bradley Jr. has yet to even make an appearance in left field throughout his two-year minor league career with the Sox.

After being drafted 40th overall out of the University of South Carolina, JBJ has appeared in 124 minor league games; with 123 of these appearances in center field and 1 in right field. During this year's Spring Training, JBJ has simply dominated. In addition to batting .449 he has led the Red Sox in defensive innings played, with 87 innings in center and 12 in right.

You have to figure that with such a jaw-dropping offseason that JBJ will make the Red Sox Opening Day roster, right? Throwing him on the roster as a left fielder shouldn't be too big of a deal... Well hold on now. Just yesterday, manager John Farrell had this to say on the possibility of JBJ playing left field:
“No, if he’s not in center, he’ll probably be in right,” Farrell said.

Huh... that will put a damper on things. With Farrell admitting that there is no plan for JBJ to play in left field, options are limited for the young star. We all want to see him on the final squad come Opening Day, but unfortunately the decision is not up to us. We'll have to wait and see what Farrell's final decision is.
Stats via MLB.com

Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18
#KeepJBJ