Red Sox vs. Phillies Lineups: Bryan Mata on the mound

The Red Sox are at home in Fort Myers today, which means we get to see a lot of regulars in the lineup for this one. Or, I guess not see, because there is no TV broadcast in either market for this game against the Phillies. It can be heard on the radio if you’d like, broadcasting on 850 AM WEEI. First pitch is at 1:05 PM ET.

Getting the start for the Red Sox today is Bryan Mata, who is arguably the top pitching prospect in the system. There are some who see Noah Song or maybe even Jay Groome above him, but on average I think Mata is the most highly-regarded arm in the system right now. There are some bullpen question marks in his game, and he certainly won’t start the year in Boston, but he’s a name to keep an eye on and it’ll be interesting for his first start in spring. Obviously, it’s different starting versus relieving this type of year just in terms of competition, as teams take out their major-league position players as the game goes on. So, he’ll face some regulars against the Phillies, although their lineup has some minor leaguers as well.

On the other side, Andrew Benintendi is back in the leadoff spot where he’ll likely be all year. He’s done well very early in that spot and will look to keep it going after that. Behind him is mostly regulars in Jackie Bradley Jr., J.D. Martinez, Mitch Moreland, Christian Vázquez and Kevin Pillar. Then there are a couple of guys battling for a bench spot in Tzu-Wei Lin and Jonathan Arauz as well as another top prospect in the organization, Bobby Dalbec.

The full lineups are below.