Wednesday Red Sox Lineup: Jackie Bradley Starts Against Pirates

Jackie Bradley is back in the starting lineup Wednesday as a group of mostly backups takes the field against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

While Bradley has quickly become one of the best stories of the spring, it's been a little while since he's had more than two trips to the plate in a game. That seems likely to change today, however. With most of the starters enjoying a day off, Bradley will get the nod in center field, batting sixth and hopefully making a few trips to the plate.

Boston Red Sox

1. Brock Holt, 3B
2. Jonny Gomes, LF
3. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, DH
4. Mauro Gomez, 1B
5. Juan Carlos Linares, RF
6. Jackie Bradley, CF
7. David Ross, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Pedro Ciriaco, 2B

Starting Pitcher -- Jon Lester

Lester will be making just his third start of the spring, and will do so with a clean record. So far, the lefty has allowed just one hit and one walk in five innings of work. A convincing start for a man determined not to repeat his dismal 2012--the first real speed bump he's had in the majors. After pitching three innings in his last outing, Lester will presumably be coming awfully close to a real full-length start sometime soon.

Otherwise this is a pretty standard-issue lineup. The only thing of note is Brock Holt at third. Holt does have an outside chance at breaking camp with the major league team this year. To do so, though, he'll need to prove he's not only more reliable with the bat than Pedro Ciriaco (not hard to do, frankly), but that he can cut it defensively at third and shortstop. While there's not much question about Ciriaco's defensive abilities, Holt's arm at third could be a bit of a stretch. It'd be nice to see him pull it off, though. I'm sure after last week's panic nobody needs to be reminded how thin we are at third.