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Thursday Red Sox Lineup: Lineup Takes Shape Against Twins

Thursday's Red Sox lineup might give hints towards what John Farrell intends to pencil in every day come April.

By Ben Buchanan
USA TODAY Sports

As we get closer to opening day, the lineup has started to take on some greater consistency, perhaps providing a glimpse into the shape of things to come.

Boston Red Sox

  1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
  2. Daniel Nava, LF
  3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
  4. Mike Napoli, 1B
  5. Will Middlebrooks, 3B
  6. Lyle Overbay, DH
  7. Jonny Gomes, RF
  8. David Ross, C
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS
Starting Pitcher -- Ryan Dempster

Aside from David Ross subbing in for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, you might note this is the closest the Red Sox can come to their major league lineup right now. David Ortiz is still hurting, Stephen Drew isn't quite back from the concussion, and Shane Victorino is off playing for Team USA.

Now, does that mean Shane Victorino is going to be hitting second when he gets back? Not necessarily, but it is interesting that Farrell seems to be playing with Pedroia batting third more and more often. Or perhaps that's just to push Napoli and Middlebrooks to fourth and fifth respectively, where he expects them to hit during the regular season. Presumably in such a situation Ortiz would hit third rather than sixth, but allowances must be made to win the Mayor's Cup, right?

No, not really.

One other interesting thing to note is that Jonny Gomes is in right field today rather than Daniel Nava, who had been given the chance recently. Gomes is not cut out for right field in Fenway, make no mistake. But Farrell has thought about possibly shifting Shane Victorino to left in the odd stadium with a big left field and small right field, so it doesn't hurt to get a look at Gomes playing the other corner.

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