Thursday Red Sox Lineup: Dustin Pedroia Bats Third

We've had some extensive discussions already about what this lineup should be, what it was likely to be, and at least for the last few minutes what it actually is, so I feel that we can be pretty brief about things here.

The Red Sox will not attempt to harness the magic that is Dustin Pedroia in the cleanup role, apparently, instead turning to the variant of Pedroia in the third spot. That Carl Crawford didn't move is significant, and suggests at least to me that he's going to stay at that second position in the lineup unless the situation goes entirely wrong.

The most interesting bit here is, of course, Pedro Ciriaco as the designated hitter. Really let that sink in: Pedro "Quadruple-A middle infielder" Ciriaco is playing DH for the Red Sox...and it's arguably the right move. Pedroia could've been given the DH role to ease him back in tonight, but given that the injury was in his thumb it doesn't seem like a big deal compared to swinging the bat. With the only other options a bunch of lefties and switch-hitters who can only hit RHP, turning to the right-handed Ciriaco and his hot bat actually kind of makes sense.

Oh, and hey, no Youkilis.