Allen Craig may be up with the Red Sox for September, but he's not in the lineup Tuesday night as they go for a series win over the Yankees.
There's been some amount of unrest going around over not the names in the lineup on any given night, but the order they're put in (Sandoval second in particular has drawn some ire). In a better season, this would probably be worth paying attention to, and indeed, even now there's something to be said for the fact that Bradley, batting ninth, will end up with fewer at bats than those above him. To be completely honest, if I could write my own lineup in every day, it would probably be something like this:
- Jackie Bradley Jr.
- Travis Shaw
- Blake Swihart
- Rusney Castillo
- Mookie Betts
- Xander Bogaerts
- Brock Holt
- Pablo Sandoval
- David Ortiz
Certainly not because of any conventional lineup logic. God knows it was almost painful to type David Ortiz in at #9. But just because this places the players who I think would get the most benefit out of seeing more at bats up top. David Ortiz has nothing left to prove this season, however nice it would be for him to reach 500, and he certainly doesn't need the experience. He's shown he's not done, and if he didn't see another at bat this season, it would have no impact on the team's plans in the offseason or 2016.
But...these are relatively small considerations in the face of getting the actual right names in the lineup in the first place. Getting Jackie Bradley Jr. or Rusney Castillo one more at bat in any given game is not the issue so much as consistently getting them three instead of zero. And God knows Pablo Sandoval's inability to set the table just does not factor in much at this point.
In short: I will take what I can get, and you all probably should too. For your own sanity, y'know?
First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN, WEEI, and the MLB Network.