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Red Sox vs. Orioles: Brock Holt leads off

The Red Sox will have Brock Holt leading off as they try to reach .500 on Patriots Day.

By Ben Buchanan
Jim Rogash

Brock Holt will be the leadoff hitter as the Red Sox try to--

Wait, what?

Boston Red Sox (9-10)

  1. Brock Holt, 3B
  2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
  3. David Ortiz, DH
  4. Mike Napoli, 1B
  5. Jonny Gomes, LF
  6. Xander Bogaerts, SS
  7. Daniel Nava, RF
  8. David Ross, C
  9. Jackie Bradley Jr.

Starting Pitcher -- Clay Buchholz

Baltimore Orioles (8-9)

TBA

Starting Pitcher -- Wei-Yin Chen

Talk about trying to ride the hot hand. Holt is certainly in the middle of a decent run. He's picked up a hit in each of his last seven games (extending back into the minors), going 10-for-30 with three doubles, two triples, and a pair of walks in that time. His OPS between the majors and minors sits somewhere around 1.050 in sixty at bats.

But we're still talking about a career .261/.313/.321 hitter batting leadoff based on a sample size of at best 60 at bats and at worst 10. Which is just not a lot to go on. Barring substitution, Brock Holt will finish the day with more at bats than Dustin Pedroia, Mike Napoli ,David Ortiz, and Xander Bogaerts. And that just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Particularly with a lefty on the mound.

First pitch is at 11:05 AM on this fine Patriots Day, with broadcasts on NESN, the MLB Network, and WEEI.

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