Red Sox vs. Twins lineups: Nava, Pierzynski debut in first televised game

The Red Sox will finally make their way into our homes tonight, albeit only well after they play the actual game. The second leg of their home-and-home with the Minnesota Twins will be broadcast, just not until 8:00--a full seven hours after first pitch.

Oh well, beggars cannot be choosers, I suppose. And that goes the same for the lineup...

Boston Red Sox (0-1) (Because those college games don't really count)

1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Jonathan Herrera, SS
3. Daniel Nava, LF
4. A.J. Pierzynski, C
5. Mike Carp, 1B
6. Alex Hassan, RF
7. Garin Cecchini, 3B
8. Travis Shaw, 1B
9. Brock Holt, 2B

Starting Pitcher -- Allen Webster

It's certainly not as bad as it could be. It'll be interesting to see Grady Sizemore in a Red Sox uniform, particularly if he gets challenged at all out in center field. Jonathan Herrera projects to play a decent role with the team as well, if only as a bench player--something that Mike Carp showed us can mean quite a lot last year. A.J. Pierzynski is...well, he's A.J. Pierzynski, which can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

There's probably three real marquee names for the day, though: Daniel Nava, Garin Cecchini, and Allen Webster.

In Nava, we get last year's real starting left fielder, who can really secure his place as one of baseball's better offensive outfielders if he manages to repeat his performance from 2013. In Garin Cecchini, we have one of Boston's best prospects, hopefully ready to show off both his abilities at third (which have come into question of late) and his ability to make a pitcher work incredibly hard for an out which likely isn't coming anyways (those abilities having come under no such scrutiny).

Then there's Allen Webster, who may just be the perfect player for spring training observation. In 2013 he was an absolute mess against MLB teams, but oh, some of the pitches he made. There are a few pitchers out there who can do truly insane things with a baseball, and Webster showed himself to be one of those last year. With spring training, we get the chance to see some of those pitches without the terror of a meaningful loss due to his inconsistency hanging over our heads. Quite the luxury, that.

As for the Twins...

Minnesota Twins (1-0)

1. Aaron Hicks, CF
2. Brian Dozier, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, 1B
4. Josh Willingham, LF
5. Chris Parmelee, RF
6. Trevor Plouffe, 3B
7. Kennys(?) Vargas, DH
8. Kurt Suzuki, C
9. Eduardo Escobar, SS

Starting Pitcher -- Scott Diamond

But it's spring training, so for our purposes, none of that is terribly important.

Spring is weird...