Red Sox at Mariners Lineups: Can the Sox hit a lefty?

The Red Sox have been good at most things this season, which is why they’ve been among the best teams in baseball all year long. That’s not to say they are without flaws, of course. One of the biggest flaws for Boston has been their performance against left-handed pitching, and they’ll be going up against one of the best southpaws in the American League on Friday in James Paxton. The Seattle lefty throws big-time heat to go with legitimately effective secondaries. He is good enough to shut down any lineup at any given time, never mind a lineup that has been one of the ten worst performing groups against lefties.

To do it, the Red Sox are sending out what is mostly their A-Lineup, but without Andrew Benintendi. On the one hand, it’s always surprising to see him sit, particularly as he’s been one of the best hitters in the game over the last few weeks. On the other hand, he was probably due for a day off at some point, and if he’s going to sit it should come when the other team is starting a lefty on the mound. Benintendi has been better against southpaws of late, but he’s still much worse overall against them than lefties. With him out of the game, J.D. Martinez slides into left field, Eduardo Núñez steps in as the DH and Brock Holt gets the start at second. Here are the full lineups.