Or at least it appears that way for now. With Adrian Gonzalez being given a day at DH instead of any of the various outfielders, there was, for the first time, a need to sit one of the four "starters".
Today, the odd man out is J.D. Drew, who will sit in favor of Josh Reddick in right field. You'll find fewer more pro-J.D. places in the world, but even here it's clear that based on how things have gone of late, this was the right move to make.
Hopefully it stays consistent even as Ortiz returns. It would be too cruel to give us hope with just this one game.
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, DH
- Kevin Youkilis, 1B
- Josh Reddick, RF
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Marco Scutaro, SS
- Jason Varitek, C
- Yamaico Navarro, 3B
Clearly the Sox have worked some Six Million Dollar Man magic on Varitek to have him capable of playing behind the plate just two days after catching sixteen innings. The man is a machine, if perhaps not offensively.
Andrew Miller needs a good start today. With Lester on the way back and the trade deadline looming, he really could be pitching for his major league job over his next few starts.
Jake Arrieta will probably not be pitching for his job, because he is an Oriole.
Go Sox!