Red Sox at Pirates Lineups: Martín Pérez’s Red Sox debut

The Red Sox head out on the road to Bradenton on Wednesday afternoon to take on the Pirates in some spring training action. This one will not be available on TV locally, but the Pittsburgh station is broadcasting it so those with an MLB.TV subscription (and I think that might actually be on free trial at the moment) can watch. It’s also on radio on 850 AM WEEI, and it starts at 1:05 PM ET.

There’s been a lot of talk about the Red Sox fifth starter spot, and for good reason given all of that uncertainty. However, that has sort of overshadowed the uncertainty with Martín Pérez in the fourth spot as well. He has, frankly, never really been productive in the majors, but even with bad results last year there was some indication with a new arsenal and an improved contact profile that he could be in line for a breakout this season. We won’t learn a ton of that front in this outing, but at the very least it’s a chance to get a sense of how he throws and what we can look for when he starts to get more into game shape. Plus, it’s our first time seeing him in a Boston uniform. Also, this.

On the other side, the Red Sox are going up against top prospect Mitch Keller. There has been a pattern developing early for their road lineups that has generally included José Peraza, Marco Hernández and Michael Chavis in some alignment on the infield. Today, they play shortstop, third base and second base, respectively. This will be the latter’s first action at the keystone this spring. At DH is C.J. Chatham, who is making his first appearance of the spring. He was supposed to start in the Northeastern game but was a late scratch with shoulder soreness, so it’s nice to see him back. Jarren Duran is also back out there in center field as he looks to show off his athleticism once again on Wednesday.

The full lineups are below: