David Ortiz gets a scheduled day off today, which leads to more reshuffling in the Red Sox lineup, courtesy of John Farrell:
- Grady Sizemore, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Daniel Nava, LF
- Mike Napoli, DH
- Mike Carp, 1B
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- AJ Placeholder, C
- Will Middlebrooks, 3B
- Jackie Bradley, Jr., RF
Clay Buchholz takes the mound for the first time in 2014. This seems to be an arguably much better defensive arrangement in the outfield, at least compared to having Mike Carp in left and Nava in right. However, it definitely looks odd to have Daniel Nava batting directly behind Pedroia. It feels like Papi should be the guy to back up the Elf; anybody else looks like a bit of an interloper.
(UPDATE: Both Carp and Middlebrooks were late scratches, making for a very Spring Training-like lineup of Sizemore-Pedroia-Nava-Bogaerts-Gomes-Placeholder-Herrera-Bradley. Welp.)
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers offer up the following:
- Carlos Gomez, CF
Jean Segura, SS
Jonathan Lucroy, DH
Aramis Ramirez, 3B
Khris Davis, LF
Logan Schafer, RF
Mark Reynolds, 1B
Scooter Gennett, 2B
Martin Maldonado, C
plus the wily Wily Peralta on the mound for the Brewers. Unfortunately, this lineup means we won't have Ryan Braun for the Fenway Fans to lustily boo tonight. Nor will one of yesterday's other primary villains, Lyle Overbay, start tonight. So a very different lineup on both sides.
Game time is about 7:10 ET.
GO SOX!